Heart attack happens when the heart muscle does nothave enough blood. The blood vessels which carry oxygen are blocked and, asconsequence, oxygen cannot get to the heart. Due to this, the heart muscledies or becomes damaged forever.In the United States, more than a million of peoplesuffer of this condition each year.Most heart attacks are induced by a blood clotthat obstructs one of the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries aresignificant because they carry blood and oxygen to the heart.A harmful substance, called plaque, develops inthe walls of the coronary arteries and, due to this, they become narrow. Theplaque is made of cholesterol and cellular waste products.There are certain risk factors for heartattack such as stress, being a middle-aged man, earlier heart attack,physical inactivity.According to the many researches which areconducted, cigarette smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease, whichresults in a heart attack.People with high blood pressure are at higher riskfor heart attack. Blood pressure additionally damages the arteries.Other factors which may increase the probabilityof getting a heart attack are diabetes, too much fat in the food, genetic factors,and unhealthy cholesterol levels.One of the most typical symptoms of heart attackis pain in the chest. However, pain may appear in a shoulder, back, belly area,and even in teeth. Difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath is alsocommon sign of this serious condition. Other indicators which may sometimesoccur include nausea, dizziness, sweating, indigestion, and irregular heartbeats.For some unexplained reasons, women sometimes havedifferent, less recognizable signs.They also often complain of being tired andanxious.
Treatment
People with heart attack need to stay in the hospital, probably inthe intensive care unit .Arrhythmia, can betreated with drugs, electrical cardioversion or defibrillation. Sometimes, theoxygen may be given to the patient. Drugs and fluids will be given through anintravenous line.Thrombolytic therapy implies the use of drugs thatbreak into a lot of small pieces or dissolve blood clots, which are the mainoriginator of both, heart attacks and stroke.However, this therapy cannot be given to thepatients who have brain abnormalities, recent head injury, stroke, bleedinginside head, extreme high blood pressure. Pregnant woman cannot undergo thistherapy either.There is a variety of drugs which may be used intreating this condition. Nitroglycerin may help in relieving chest pain.Aspirin and other anti-platelets may prevent clots from being formed. To reducethe injury on the heart and to diminish blood pressure, beta-blockers may begiven.During angioplasty, the coronary artery is opened.It is an emergent procedure. There is also an option of coronary artery bypasssurgery, often called open heart surgery. Heart attack happens when the heart muscle doesnot have enough blood.
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