Heart Attack

Sometimes misspelled as a "heart attach"

We hear about heart attacks on what seems like a daily basis. It is advertised on TV, written about in articles and discussed by health professionals but how much do you really know about heart attack? Do you know what causes them and how to protect yourself from attack? 

A heart attack is medically known as a myocardial infarction and this is defined as the sudden stoppage of the heart often due to death or damage of the heart muscles. It is widely known in America that heart related conditions are the number one cause of death and disability. This is also a leading cause of death and disability in many other countries as well. Sudden death, due to heart attack, is the most common consequence of cardiovascular disease.

Heart Attack Causes

There are many different types of cardiovascular conditions but the one most likely to cause a heart attack is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). This is a condition that affects the coronary arteries, or the arteries of the heart. This happens due to a slow and gradual buildup of the fatty deposits in the arteries which eventually can cause a clog. Even if it doesn’t clog the arteries completely, it can greatly narrow them, causing the heart to have to pump harder to push the blood through.

There are also different things that can contribute to your heart attack risk in addition to cardiovascular disease. For example, smoking, diabetes, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and more can all contribute to heart attack risk. While heart attack is still a top killer around the globe, it is preventable. It’s important to learn the proper steps to take to avoid cardiovascular disease and to decrease your heart attack risk.

Heart Attack Symptoms

Unfortunately, heart attack has a way of taking someone quickly who may have seen perfectly healthy just days before. Why is this? Heart disease can often be present without a lot of obvious outer signs. Then heart attack can strike when you’re not even expecting it.

Typical heart attack symptoms include:

• Chest pain (also called angina).
• Pain radiating to the shoulders, neck or arms. The pain may be mild to intense. It might occur in the chest, upper abdomen, neck, jaw, or inside the arms or shoulders.
• An uncomfortable feeling pressure, fullness, or squeezing in the chest area. Some heart attack survivors say the feeling is similar to "someone sitting on my chest."
• Shortness of breath, lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea.
• An unusual sense of anxiety or nervousness.
• Cold sweaty skin, often accompanied by paleness.
• A faster heart rate or irregular heartbeat (heart palpitations).

These symptoms should be taken seriously. If you experience these symptoms, or care for someone who has them, call emergency services right away.

Heart Attack vs. Cardiac Arrest

Many people use the terms cardiac arrest and heart attack interchangeably, but they don't actually mean exactly the same thing.

In a cardiac arrest, there is an abrupt, abnormal stoppage of blood circulation because the heart is not contracting the way it should.

A cardiac arrest may be caused by a heart attack or myocardial infarction because blood cannot flow through blocked arteries caused by coronary artery disease.

Heart Attacks in Women

Although heart problems have stereotypically been regarded aa a "male" disease, heart attacks also happen to women more than most people think.

Many more women die of heart disease than breast cancer. In fact, almost twice as many women in the United States die of heart disease, stroke and other heart problems as from all forms of cancer combined.

Approximately 55,000 more women have strokes than men each year in the United States alone. Close to 60 percent of total stroke deaths occur in women.