Simple Guidance For You In How To Spot And Treat A Heart Attack

A heart attack happens when there is damage to the heart muscle. It occurs when oxygen-rich blood isn't able to reach the part of your heart affected because either blood flow to it has been blocked or it's not receiving enough oxygen.

Symptoms of a heart attack

When it comes to heart attacks, we encourage you to take every sign seriously and contact emergency services immediately if someone you know has any of the following symptoms:

1 pain that spreads to the arms, neck, jaw, or back

2 a feeling of crushing or heaviness in the chest

3 a feeling similar to heartburn or indigestion

4 feeling clammy and sweaty

5 shortness of breath

6 feeling lightheaded or dizzy

7 in some cases, anxiety that can feel similar to a panic attack

8 nausea and sometimes vomiting

9 coughing or wheezing, if fluid builds up in the lungs

10 a feeling of pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing, or aching in the chest

The symptoms of a heart attack can vary in their order and duration. They may also come and go unexpectedly.

Treatment

A heart attack can be fatal and requires immediate attention.



Do manual chest compressions:

Lock your fingers together and place the base of your hands in the center of someone’s chest. It probably looks a bit gruesome, but please trust us, you can’t hurt a drowning person. Position your shoulders over your hands, lock your elbows, and press hard and fast at a rate of 100–120 compressions per minute until that person starts breathing or moving on their own again.

Use an automatic external defibrillator (AED)

An AED is a device used by trained professionals to successfully bring a person whose heart has stopped beating back to life. While an AED alone cannot perform CPR, the parts of this device work by monitoring bodily functions, such as a pulse rate and breathing patterns before administering electric shock treatments to re-establish normal heart rhythm. In order for an AED unit to be effective, it must be utilized by people who have been thoroughly trained on how to properly operate the device.

Medical treatment

If you are ever in need of help, call 911. Provide the operator with as many details about your situation as possible, including the condition of the victim and what led to this incident. The emergency team will arrive quickly at your location; they will give attention to stabilizing the person’s condition which includes giving them oxygen if it is needed. 0nce at the hospital, medical staff will perform tests on their patient and administer proper treatment.

Medications including aspirin, anti-coagulants (blood thinners) like warfarin, blood pressure medication like ACE inhibitors and others, percutaneous coronary intervention a mechanical method of restoring blood flow to any damaged tissue in a few instances a coronary artery bypass grafting- commonly called a heart bypass that diverts blood around damaged areas of the arteries to improve blood flow into the affected area while also reducing future risks of lesions manifestation through its apparent effects on HDL cholesterol .



Complications

Sometimes there can be complications after a heart attack. These are sometimes due to the illness itself, but it's also sometimes related to other health conditions like high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking. For this reason, it's important to connect with providers in your health care network for ongoing treatment and monitoring in order to prevent complications that may arise in relation to your post-heart attack recovery.

Prevention

Heart diseases don’t care about your ***, age or where you live. You can be a victim of heart attack or heart failure anytime and anyhow. Heart disease has no favorites, that is why the American Heart Association Trusted Source constantly remind everyone to take care of their health and ensure proper diagnosis if ever there's possible signs of heart disease.

Diagnosis

In hospitals, doctors are trained to consider the patient's age, overall health, medical history, and family history before drawing up a diagnosis. They will need to take some tests to help them confirm their assumptions about what is wrong with the person. These may include imaging tests such as X-rays, CT scans, and Echocardiograms or electrical activity in your heart can be checked too using electrocardiography. However there are other ways to check an Attack on the heart. A doctor can insert a catheter into one of your arteries in order to examine the inside of your heart which will hopefully enable them to determine how exactly you fell ill.



Recovery

Heart attack is a condition in which the blood supply to the heart muscle is compromised due to coronary atherosclerosis or coronary thrombosis. Signs and symptoms of myocardial infarction include chest pain, shortness of breath, light-headedness, weakness and fatigue. Approximately 500,000 Americans have a heart attack each year with about half dying due to sudden cardiac arrest with most survivors having recurrent ischemic events within five years. Cardiac rehabilitation can reduce all-cause mortality. Exercise capacity has been shown to predict long term mortality following MI when compared to clinical risk factors only. Patients who cannot return to work for 6 weeks are likely to stay home longer if proper planning is done prior to hospital discharge. Also psychosocial issues like depression contribute significantly to poor outcome after MI therefore psychological support is important during this period.

Causes

The best way to avoid coming down with a heart attack is by making sure you're getting enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep can be one of the most common causes of cardiac arrest due to oxygen deprivation when your body is deprived of its vital source needed for proper muscle functioning which in turn can lead to your heart failing.

Risk factors

According to the AHAT rusted Source, high blood pressure from high cholesterol levels from a diet that's high in processed foods and added fats, sugars, and salt from rapid weight gain could be considered lethal. This is because it increases the risk of your arteries being clogged. The result? A heart attack! But even a diagnosis can't predict when a heart attack will occur. Often times it's a combination of factors that leads to the worst case scenario.

People of color are more likely than their white counterparts to develop high blood pressure or suffer from heart disease. This news comes straight from an epidemiological report released by the American Heart Association (AHA), revealing perilous disparities affecting AHA members throughout the U.S., with people of color facing elevated risks of high blood pressure, which can lead to increased risk of cardiovascular problems like heart attack.