heartdiseasesecretreport.comHeart Attack Symtoms

Any of a number of conditions that can affect the heart. Some examples include coronary heart disease, heart attack, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary heart disease and high blood pressure. Heart disease is a big problem in today’s society because of lifestyle issues such as poor diet, lack of exercise and smoking.

Heart attack (myocardial infarction or coronary thrombosis) is when part of the heart muscle dies because it has been starved of oxygen. . It can occur as a result of one or two effects of atherosclerosis:

(1) If the artery becomes completely blocked and ischemia becomes so extensive that oxygen-bearing tissues around the heart die.

(2) If the plaque itself develops fissures or tears. Blood platelets adhere to the site to seal off the plaque, and a blood clot (thrombus) forms. A heart attack can then occur if the formed blood clot completely blocks the passage of oxygen-rich blood to the heart.

Usually, this happens when a blood clot forms in one of the coronary arteries (blood vessels to the heart muscle), which blocks the blood supply. Occasionally, a blockage is caused by a spasm (sudden narrowing) of a coronary artery.

Cause of Heart attack:

A heart attack happens when a blood vessel in or near the heart becomes blocked. Not enough blood can get to that part of the heart muscle. That area of the heart muscle stops working, so the heart is weaker. During a heart attack, you may have chest pain along with nausea, indigestion, extreme weakness, and sweating

A heart attack occurs when there is a severe blockage in an artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. The blockage is usually caused by the buildup of plaque (deposits of fat-like substances, or atherosclerosis) along the walls of the arteries. The sudden lack of blood flow to the heart muscle deprives the heart of needed oxygen and nutrients. If the blockage is not opened quickly, the heart muscle is likely to suffer serious, permanent damage as areas of tissue die.

Warning Signs for Heart Attack

â?¢ Chest discomfort: uncomfortable pressure, squeezing or fullness.

â?¢ Discomfort in other areas of the upper body: one or both arms or in the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.

â?¢ Shortness of breath, either with chest discomfort or alone.

â?¢ Other signs, including nausea, lightheadedness, or breaking out in a cold sweat.

Common Symptoms.

Other common symptoms of a heart attack include:

â?¢ Nausea, vomiting, and cold sweats

â?¢ A feeling of indigestion or heartburn

â?¢ Fainting

â?¢ A great fear of impending death, a phenomena known as angor animi

Medical Treatment

Medical treatment may be started immediately, before a definite diagnosis of a heart problem is made. General treatment measures include the following:

â?¢ Oxygen through a tube in the nose or face mask

â?¢ Nitroglycerin under the tongue

â?¢ Pain medicines (morphine or meperidine)

â?¢ Aspirin: Those with allergy to aspirin may be given clopidogrel (Plavix).

Surgery

After a heart attack, you will usually be offered an exercise test. If this suggests that your coronary arteries have narrowed, an angiogram will be carried out. This involves injecting a dye into the blood so that the coronary blood vessels show up on an X-ray. If your arteries are narrowed, you can sometimes be treated with angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting.

A new study found that people who took enhanced medicine and health care treatment have survived from heart attacks. This study was published in the American Medical Association, and noted that the hospitals and clinics follow confirmed guidelines for treating heart attacks chest pains, results will end with more patients surviving from heart attacks. There were 44,372 participants who have been tested between July 1999 and December 2006 at 113 hospitals in 14 countries.

The study which done by Dr. Keith Fox, a professor of cardiology at the University of Edinburgh in Britain, tested the reflection of patients when they are treated with the latest guideline for heart attacks treatment.

The results showed that heart attack could be avoided dramatically. Also the trials founded that the faster the condition treated the better the results. For example, treating a blocked artery quickly with angioplasty, will lead to better results. Angioplasty is recommended by many heart health organizations to be taken within 90 minutes of entering the hospital.

The results data showed that there is a major decrease in the number of deaths due to heart attacks and other heart diseases in the hospitals and also there is a decrease in heart stroke and heart failure conditions. The results varied from condition to other, but the most decrease appeared in Deaths from ST-elevation heart attack which dropped to around 4.6 in the year 2006.

Researches credited the developments in treatment results to better use of drugs such as beta-blockers, cholesterol-lowering statins, ACE inhibitors, anti-clotting drugs, blood thinners and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, that are used to treat chest pains. Also Angioplasty was used in 2006 by two thirds of the patients which reduced the figures of deaths by 18 percent.

The settlement of better heart attack treatment lasted, the study found, with the percentages of death and stroke dropping six months after treatment.

Heart Attack Symptoms

Medical emergencies such as heart attack have to be treated immediately. A delayed treatment might lead to severe complications and even death. That is why all specialists recommend an early treatment in order to increase the chances for recovery.

Treatment for this condition might begin in the ambulance or in the emergency room. The certitude is that the treatment will continue in a special area called a coronary care unit or CCU.

In the initial phase, at the hospital the doctors will work quickly to restore blood flow to the heart. A close monitoring of patient?s vital signs is also done.

The most common treatments that are used are thrombolytic drugs, also known as clot busters, which are useful in dissolving blood clots that are blocking blood flow to the heart. If these drugs are administrated soon after the heart attack begins, they can limit or even prevent permanent damage to the heart. These drugs are 100 percent effective if they are administrated in less than an hour after the start of the heart attack symptoms.

We can mention other ways of treatment such as angioplasty procedures that are used to open blocked or narrowed coronary arteries. A stent may be placed in the artery in order to keep it open.

As an alternative for treating this problem we might mention coronary artery bypass surgery. This intervention uses arteries or veins from other parts of the body to bypass the blocked coronary arteries.

The included tests are electrocardiogram, blood tests, nuclear heart scan, cardiac catheterization and coronary angiography.

The most common medicines that are used for treating heart attacks are beta blockers that are used to decrease the workload on the heart by slowing the heart rate. This makes the heart beat with less force and will lead to a lower blood pressure. These types of medicines are also used in treating chest pain and o correct irregular heart beat.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are also used, because they lower the blood pressure and reduce the strain on your heart. For some patients, these medicines are administrated after a heart attack to increase the survival rate and to help slow down further weakening of the heart.

Other medicines such as nitroglycerin are used to relax the blood vessels. Anticoagulants and antiplatelet medications are also useful.

Some cases require medicines to relieve pain and anxiety, medicines for treating arrhythmias or oxygen therapy.

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