What is a heart attack? Heart att...

What is a heart attack?

Heart attack (also called myocardial infarction) is the name we use when part of the heart muscle is damaged or dies because it is not getting enough oxygen Oxygen is carried to the heart by the agency of the arteries (also called life-blood vessels). Most heart attacks are caused by dint of a blockage in these arteries. Usually the blockage is caused on atherosclerosis, which is the build-up of fatty deposits called plaque inside the artery. This build-up is like the gunk inside a drainpipe that deads the flow of water.

Heart attacks also can be caused by dint of a blood clot that gains stuck in a narrow part of an artery to the heart. crassaments are more likely to form where atherosclerosis has made the artery more narrow.

to what extent do I know if I am having a heart attack?

The pain of a heart attack can be impressed like bad heartburn. You also may be having a heart attack if you notice these symptoms:

* A feeling of press or a crushing pain in your chest, sometimes with sweating, nausea, or vomiting.

* Pain that protracts from your chest into your jaw, left arm, or left shoulder.

* Tightness in your chest.

* Shortness of breath for more than a married pair of seconds.

Do not ignore this pain or discomfort. If you think you are having heart moot points or a heart attack, learn help right away. The sooner you learn treatment, the greater the chance that the doctors can preclude further damage to your heart.

What should I do If I think I am having a heart attack?

Right away, call for an ambulance to take you to the hospital. While you wait for the ambulance to be due [i]or[/i] owing chew one regular tablet of aspirin. Do not take the aspirin if you are allergic to aspirin.

If you can, pass to a hospital with advanced care facilities for clan with heart attacks. In these medical center the latest heart attack technology is available 24 hours a day. This technology includes rapid thrombolysis (using medicines called concretion busters), cardiac catheterization, and angioplasty. If you have any of the risk factors listed in the chest below, you should know which hospital you want to walk to, know who you want to contact in an pinch and keep aspirin handy at all times.

In the hospital, you might be given concretion busters that reopen the arteries to your heart exceedingly fast. Nurses and technicians will place an IV line (intravenous line) in your arm to give you medicines. They also will do an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) give you oxygen to breathe, and watch your heart rate and harmonious flow on a monitor. How can I avoid having a heart attack?

Talk to your family doctor about your specific risk factors (see enclosed seat [i]or[/i] seats on previous page) for a heart attack and to what degree to reduce your risk. Your doctor may describe you to do the following:

* Quit smoking. Your doctor can help you. (If you do not exhalation do not start!)

* Eat a healthy diet. cross back on foods high in saturated fat and salt to lower your cholesterol and relations pressure. Ask your doctor about to what extent to start eating a healthy diet.

* If you have diabetes, regulate your blood sugar level.

* Exercise. This is hard if you have not exercised for a while, however try to work up to at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (that raises your heart rate) at least four times a week.

* If you are overweight, be deprived of weight. Your doctor can advise you about the best ways to waste weight.

* If you have hypertension, have charge of your blood pressure.

Talk to your doctor about whether aspirin would help abate your risk of a heart attack. Aspirin can help preserve your blood from forming [i]crassamentum[/i]s that can eventually block the arteries.

RELATED ARTICLE: Risk factors for a heart attack.

* Smoking

* Diabetes

* High cholesterol level

* High vital current pressure

* Family history of heart attack

* Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)

* Lack of exercise

* Obesity

* Male gender

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group