Heart attacks account for millions of deaths every year. A heart attack (also called myocardial infarction) must be treated promptly after early detection if this danger is to be averted. For this, you should be able to recognize a heart attack when it happens. So let's discuss the signs of a heart attack.
What is an Acute Coronary Syndrome?
An acute coronary syndrome, of which heart attacks are one form, is caused when blood flow in a coronary artery becomes suddenly reduced or occluded completely. Coronary arteries supply blood to the heart muscle, providing it with energy and oxygen needed to pump blood to the rest of the body. When coronary blood flow drops below a critical level, the heart is unable to perform its regular activity and fails.
Typically the reduction in blood flow is caused by an atherosclerotic plaque which is the deposition of excess fat and cholesterol in the wall of blood vessels. This is the result of inflammation in the vessel wall resulting in blood cells becoming sticky and obstructing the flow of fluid in the narrowed tubes.
When the sticky blood clots and totally blocks the coronary flow, it results in a heart attack - unless immediate corrective action is taken.
Signs of a Heart Attack
The most common presentation of a myocardial infarction is the onset of crushing, severe chest pain located in the middle of the chest or towards the left. The pain often radiates from here to the upper stomach, neck, angle of the jaw or left arm. It is severe in intensity, and quite unlike any other pain the person has experienced in the past. The pain does not relent with time or medication, and may even get worse.
Not all infractions occur with chest pain. In older people, diabetics and some women, a heart attack may be entirely painless and indicated only by other signs. These signs include palpitations, profuse sweating, light headedness or dizziness, extreme fatigue and sudden breathlessness.
Emergency Measures To Take
Whenever you suspect a myocardial infarction, it is best to seek immediate medical assistance. Call an emergency service number to ask for an ambulance to rush the patient to hospital. As an immediate measure, placing a crushed tablet of aspirin in the patient's mouth, or a nitroglycerin tablet under the tongue, can help restore some blood flow in the obstructed artery by making the platelets in the clot less sticky.
As soon as the victim of an attack reaches hospital, emergency measures like nasal oxygen and maybe a pain killer like morphine will be administered. An EKG test will confirm the diagnosis by showing characteristic changes. Blood tests to measure the level of markers of heart muscle damage like Troponin levels can help make the diagnosis more certain.
The key to saving life by rushing a heart attack victim to hospital at the earliest lies in correctly identifying the warning signs and taking prompt action. This list of symptoms can serve as an important indicator of serious injury and when you take note of it and act promptly, you may save a person's life - quite literally.
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