Heart Attack

Heart attack is the death of heart muscle from the sudden blockage of a coronary artery by a blood clot. Blockage of coronary artery deprives the heart muscle of blood and oxygen causing injury to the heart muscle. Injury to the heart muscle causes chest pain and pressure.

Acting fast at the first sign of heart attack symptoms can save your life and limit damage to your heart.

Heart attack symptoms:

1. Chest discomfort followed by uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, pain in the center of the chest.

2. Upper body discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

3. Shortness of breath may occur with or before chest discomfort.

4. Nausea, vomiting, lightheadedness or fainting, or breaking out in cold sweat.

Factor that cause heart trouble:

One of the factors for heart trouble can be "heredity. Coronary artery disease is found to run mainly in families. Therefore, for its diagnosis a strong family history of the disease is very important.

Another factor can be "stress". Stress can be a major cause of heart attack.

Yet another factor is "smoking". Risk of people having heart attack is 50% who are heavy smokers than non-smokers.

"Obesity" is the major cause of heart attack. It increases the risk of heart attack by 50%.

It has been advised by the doctors to have prompt treatment for the heart attack that can decrease damage from a heart attack and increase the chance for survival.

Treatment of heart attack includes the following:

1. Thrombolytic therapy: These are clot-busting drugs, which help dissolve blood clots and prevent heart damage. These drugs are most effective when administered within the first several hours of a heart attack. These medications are not used in all cases. There use is determined primarily by electrocardiogram results. These drugs also carry a small risk of causing excessive bleeding which can cause stroke if it is in brain.

2. Heparin therapy: Heparin is a drug used to thin the blood to help prevent further clot formation. This drug may be particularly useful in patients who experience intermittent blood clot formation within a coronary artery.

3. Aspirin: Intake of aspirin during a heart attack and each day following a heart attack can decrease the risk of dying from it. Blood clots primarily are composed of platelets that stick to ruptured plaques and to each other. Aspirin makes platelets less sticky decreasing the risk for further blood clot formation.

4. Beta blockers: These drugs slow the heart rate and decrease the strength of the heart's contractions, reducing strain on the heart and its oxygen requirement. These drugs are usually administered through a vein at first and then orally. Taking beta blockers during and after a heart attack decreases the risk for recurrent heart attack and death. Beat blockers may cause erectile dysfunction.

5. Nitroglycerine: Nitroglycerine is a chemical that opens up arteries and veins and increases blood flow to the heart. During heart attack nitroglycerine can be placed under the tongue, where it quickly dissolved and is absorbed into the blood stream. Nitroglycerine can be administered via continuous intravenous infusion, applied to the skin in cream or patch, where it is slowly absorbed or administered as short or long-acting nitrate pills. Because nitroglycerin dilates not only the coronary arteries, but also other blood vessels, it may cause severe headaches, and in some cases headaches are so severe that patients are unable to tolerate nitroglycerin therapy.

6. Primary pecutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty: In some cases, Angioplasty is performed to obtain images of the coronary arteries, identify the blockage and determine the best course of treatment.

7. Angioplasty is relatively safe, but some complications may occur, such as, allergic reaction to iodine-based dye, arrhythmias, bleeding and infection at the insertion site, kidney failure, ruptured artery, and stroke.