A heart attack is a serious medical emergency that requires prompt attention. Every second counts, and knowing what to do in those critical seconds can save lives. All the essential actions, from recognizing early warning signals to determining the best course of action, are critical for improving survival rates and reducing heart damage. Do you want to be prepared for the unexpected? If you’re not sure what indicators to watch for or how to respond in an emergency, continue reading. The following information is not only crucial; it could be life-saving.
What is a Heart Attack?
A heart attack is a sudden occlusion of a coronary artery, which supplies blood and oxygen to the heart muscle. As a result, the heart muscle tissue starts to die due to the lack of oxygen and nutrients needed for viability.
Signs and Symptoms of Heart Attack
The most common signs and symptoms of heart attack are:
- Tightness and pain in the chest.
- Difficulty in breathing.
- Pain radiating to the chin, back, neck, left shoulder, arms and epigastric areas.
- Nausea and lightheadedness.
- Sweating and cool extremities.
- Severe decrease in exercise capacity, syncope(fainting) or seizure in cases of ventricular arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac arrest.
- Patients usually explain the combination of chest heaviness, chest pain, difficulty in breathing, and abundant sweating.
Also It might be difficult to diagnose in patients with diabetes, female patients, and elderly patients because the symptoms may be vague in these groups.
Causes of Heart Attack
Risk factors for heart attack can be classified as nonmodifiable and modifiable risk factors:
- Nonmodifiable risk factors that you cannot change include male sex, advanced age, and a family history of heart attack (males below the age of 55 and females below the age of 65).
- Modifiable risk factors that can be changed by lifestyle modification include smoking, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia (especially high LDL and low HDL), overweight (obesity, metabolic syndrome, increased waist circumference), lack of physical activity, depression, poor oral hygiene, alcohol and drug use, type A personality and high-stress levels.
- Patients with a high number of risk factors are at high risk of having a heart attack after a triggering event.
Emergency First Aid When Heart Attack Occurs
If you see a person having a heart attack, you can take the following action.
- Do not give medication except for 300 mg of aspirin.
- Call an ambulance and transfer the patient to the nearest hospital with a coronary angiography laboratory. Until an ambulance comes, make the patient lie down and lift their legs to increase blood flow to the heart and remove any tight clothing.
- If the patient is unconscious, check for breathing and pulse. If there is no sign, start cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the ambulance comes.
If you are alone and feel like you are having a heart attack, you can take the following action:
- Keep your door open, inform your relatives or neighbor and call an ambulance.
- Stay in a supine position( lie horizontally facing upwards) to ensure blood flow to the vital organs is not hampered and to prevent syncope (fainting) and trauma.
- Coughing may increase blood flow through the coronary arteries( blood vessels supplying heart muscle) and increase the heart rate in patients with severe bradycardia.
- If you have aspirin, take 300 mg of it and nothing else.
- Do not exercise to relieve pain.
Common Steps For Prevention of Heart Attack
Preventing heart attacks involves adopting a heart healthy lifestyle and managing risk factors. Here are some common steps to help prevent a heart attack:
- The first step is to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
- Secondly, you should modify the risk factors that are modifiable (e.g., smoking cessation, blood pressure and blood sugar control, cholesterol therapy, weight control, regular exercise, avoiding polyunsaturated fatty acids, increasing vegetables and fruits in the diet, and consuming fish twice a week)
Conclusion
As soon as symptoms related to a heart attack start, the patient should seek professional healthcare support by calling an ambulance. In a heart attack, death usually occurs in the first hours, so it is crucial to start first aid as soon as possible and transfer the patient to a center with a catheter laboratory where the blocked coronary vessel can be opened with angioplasty and stent. If you want to learn more about heart attacks or consult with a heart specialist, I’m here to help. Contact Dr. Ashok Paudel – Certified Heart Doctor in Turkey and take a step towards a healthier tomorrow.
- Phone no: +905384767034
- Email ID: info@doctorofheart.com
FAQs on Heart Attack
What is the first aid for a heart attack?
Inform relatives or neighbors and call 911 for an ambulance. Keep your doors open, lie on the ground with your legs up and intermittent coughing. Take 300 mg aspirin if you have and nothing else. Do not exercise to relieve pain.
What not to do during a heart attack?
- Do not hesitate to inform relatives and call an ambulance.
- Do not neglect the signs and wait for the symptoms to go away without taking any precautions.
- Do not exercise to relieve pain.
- Do not take any other medicine except aspirin 300 mg.
How do you survive a heart attack if you are alone?
Know your body and symptoms well. Inform relatives or neighbors and call 911 for an ambulance if you feel like you are having a heart attack. Keep your doors open, lie on the ground with your legs up and intermittent coughing. Take 300 mg aspirin if you have and nothing else. Do not exercise to relieve pain.
Does your body warn you before a heart attack?
In 50% of the patients with heart attack, the coronary blood vessels get occluded within a course of years. When the blockade is above 70%, patients usually have symptoms of chest pain or fatigue during ordinary exercise. This is the most initial warning when you should have to see a cardiologist and do tests like Electrocardiography, Echocardiography, Exercise Stress Test, Scintigraphy and evaluate the disease.
In the rest, 50% of the patient’s heart attacks occur without any previous signs and symptoms. Here, the blockade does not increase gradually, and the tests like exercise stress tests can be normal before some days. In these patients, cholesterol plaque in the coronary vessels ruptures, and the vessel gets closed within hours. Adopting a healthier lifestyle is the most important to prevent this group of heart attacks.
How to avoid a heart attack?
First, you should have to adapt to a healthier lifestyle with risk factors modification whenever possible, as described earlier. If you have any symptoms of chest pain, chest discomfort or difficulty in breathing in ordinary exercise, then see a cardiologist who can run certain tests.
What triggers a heart attack?
A higher number of risk factors means a higher chance of having future heart attacks. When such patients encounter trigger events like major life stress( divorce, loss of some loved ones, diagnosis with a disease like cancer), major physical stress( doing an activity beyond the limit of the body- running, climbing stairs quickly), diseases like pneumonia, severe infection, disease initiating systemic inflammation than their cholesterol plaque in coronary arteries get ruptured and the vessel gets blocked. This way they get a heart attack.
Who gets heart attacks the most?
Patients with a higher number of risk factors are at higher risk of heart attack and have a tendency to have heart attacks at younger age. Besides, people with previous heart attacks, vasculitis, hypercoagulability, type 1 diabetes, severe stress( war, loss of loved ones, migration, divorce, etc.), low life standard, poor hygiene, and major depression are the causes of having a heart attack at a young age.
When should I consult with a cardiologist to avoid a heart attack?
If you have multiple risk factors and you have had a premature heart attack in the past, you should be in control of a cardiologist. If you are a normal individual with few or no risk factors, you can consult a cardiologist whenever you feel like your exercise capacity has declined substantially or you are having chest pain, chest discomfort or difficulty in breathing in ordinary exercise.
What are the main symptoms of a heart attack?
The most common symptom is a combination of chest pain, heaviness and dyspnea. The patient feels like a heavy weight is placed in his chest, and he has to breathe with it. Later, the pain may radiate to the neck, chin, left shoulder, back and arms( especially to the left arm).
How long does the pain last in a heart attack?
Not all chest pain is a heart attack. Especially pains that last for seconds or less than 5 minutes, which do not recur, which can be located easily, changes with position and with deep breath are not signs of a heart attack.
- Chest pain in a heart attack usually lasts more than 5 minutes, cannot be located precisely, has symptoms of heaviness, tightness and dyspnea, increases with exertion and is relieved with rest or drugs like nitroglycerin.
- Chest pain which lasts for more than 20 minutes and is not relieved with medication is a sign of massive heart attack and requires immediate medical attention and the patient should be carried to a hospital.
Are all chest pain related to the heart?
There are several causes for chest pain besides heart attack- pain related to the muscles of the chest wall, nerves, ligaments, cartilages, bile duct and gallbladder, stomach, esophagus etc.
What is the relation between smoking and heart attack?
Smokers are at high risk for heart attack compared to nonsmokers. Smoking also increases blood pressure, increases heart rate, increases oxygen demand of the heart, increases the coagulability of blood. Smoking is a major risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and pulmonary diseases.
Why do young people have heart attacks?
Patients with a higher number of risk factors are at higher risk of heart attack and have a tendency to have heart attack at a younger age. Besides, vasculitis, hypercoagulability, type 1 diabetes, severe stress( war, loss of loved ones, migration, divorce, etc.), low life standard, poor hygiene, and major depression are the causes of having a heart attack at a young age.
What is Broken Heart Syndrome?
Major stress like loss of loved ones, divorce, migration, diagnosis of diseases like cancer, major surgical procedures, loss of major cases in a court etc, can cause catecholamine surge and damage to the myocardium, which is reversible most of the time. ECG and blood tests resemble a heart attack, but the epicardial coronary arteries are open and do not need any intervention. Although the condition is reversible most of the time patients should be admitted and monitored for certain arrhythmias and should be treated with optimal medical therapy.
Is there a Happy Heart Syndrome?
Yes, Happy Heart Syndrome is a condition similar to Broken Heart Syndrome but the incident here is not a major stress, rather a joyful event like a surprise birthday celebration, marriage, university graduation etc.
Can stress cause a heart attack?
Stress is one of the major risk factors for both heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, hyperlipidemia. It affects the normal healthy lifestyle and patients may adopt unhealthy habits like smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, weight gain etc. Chronic stress can cause hormonal imbalance and an increase in inflammation inside blood vessels, which in turn leads to atherosclerosis and increases the risk of heart attack.
Are the heart attack symptoms the same for female patients?
The signs and symptoms of a heart attack may be different in the elderly, patients with diabetes and in females. These patients may not present with chest pain. Instead, they may present with chest pain equivalent symptoms like chest tightness, heaviness and dyspnea. Doctors should be extra careful while interpreting these patients.