Increased Platelet Size May Precede an Heart Attack

Of the three major types of blood cells in the blood; red blood cells are the most numerous, white blood cells are the fewest and the largest, while platelets are the smallest and the lightest. The main function of platelets is to prevent bleeding. According to the European Heart Journal, research study has shown that an increase in platelets size and activity was found to occur before an acute myocardial infarction or heart attack.

Study
A study published in the European Health Journal in 1998 by L. Pizzulli et. al., with 981 patients. Of those, 688 had stable angina, 108 with unstable angina and 52 with unstable angina requiring immediate angioplasty, a procedure to open blocked or narrow coronary artery. Results showed that unstable angina might be associated or preceded by an increase in platelet destruction rate not completely compensated by an increase in platelets production rate. In an unstable angina the large more active platelets might be causally due to an ongoing coronary artery obstruction.

Myocardial Infarction
In 2006 coronary artery disease caused 425,425 deaths in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. It is the leading cause of death in the U. S. Myocardial infarction, more commonly know as a heart attack occurs because of narrowing of the coronary artery due to plaque build up.

Symptoms
Symptoms of myocardial infarction may include sweating, pressure, and a squeezing pain in the center of your chest lasting for longer than a few minutes. The pain may extend into your shoulder, arm, back and up into your jaw. There may be nausea and vomiting, sweating, shortness of breath and fainting. In addition women may become dizzy, with feelings of unexplained fatigue, heartburn and cold clammy skin.

American Heart Association Recommendation
Myocardial infarction is a serious medical emergency. The American Heart Association recommends that if you experience any symptoms of a heart attack or see some one else experiencing those symptoms; immediately call 9-1-1 for emergency medical care and attention; every second counts.

http://www.ouhsc.edu/platelets/platelets/platelets%20intro.html

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/19/1/80.short

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-attack/DS00094

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4478

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/General/911---Warnings-Signs-of-a-Heart-Attack_UCM_305346_SubHomePage.jsp