Heart Attack

A heart attack occurs when something blocks the blood flow to your heart, limiting the supply of oxygen and damaging the heart muscle. The damage depends on the size of the area supplied by the blocked artery and how long it takes to get treatment.

The coronary arteries wrap around the outside of the heart with small branches from it feeding oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. This blood flow reduces if the coronary arteries become narrow due to a build-up of plaque (fat and cholesterol) deposits along their walls.

Blood clots are likely to form around the plaque, which can block the blood supply to the heart. When the heart is starved for oxygen supplied by the blood, it damages the tissue in the heart muscle, and a heart attack occurs.

Heart attacks are also called myocardial infarctions (MI). "Myo" means muscle, "cardial" refers to the heart, and "infarction" means the death of tissue because of a lack of oxygen and nutrient supply.

This type of tissue damage can have a lasting impact on your heart muscle. The part of the heart muscle that is damaged heals by forming scar tissue. This healing happens over a few weeks.

In most cases, the answer to that question is yes. The heart is a surprisingly tough organ. Even if a part of it is damaged, the heart rest of the muscle continues working. However, a heart attack weakens the heart, and it cannot pump as much blood as usual.

A weak heart can increase the risk of another heart attack. However, careful treatment and lifestyle changes can ensure that further damage is minimized.

With some heart attacks, there are no noticeable symptoms. This is usually identified as a "silent" myocardial infarction and is more common in people with diabetes.

Symptoms of a heart attack can include one or more of the following characteristics:

• Discomfort, pressure, heaviness, tightness, squeezing, or pain in your chest, arm, or below your breastbone
• Discomfort and radiating pain that travels into your back, jaw, throat, or arm
• Fullness, indigestion, or a choking feeling (it may feel like heartburn)
• Sweating, upset stomach, vomiting, or dizziness
• Severe weakness, anxiety, fatigue, or shortness of breath
• Fast or uneven heartbeat
• Chest pain

Heart attack symptoms can differ from one person to another. However, symptoms for women can be different and can include:

• Unusual fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting
• Dizziness or light-headedness
• Discomfort in the gut (can feel like indigestion)
• Discomfort in the neck, shoulder, or upper back

Angina is not a condition or disease but a symptom of coronary artery disease. Sometimes, it can signal a heart attack.

Angina may occur with normal activities or exertion but then go away with rest or when you take a dose of nitro-glycerine. If you’re experiencing angina, you may feel:

• Pressure, pain, squeezing, or a sense of fullness in the center of the chest
• Pain or discomfort in the shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw

If you notice the symptoms of a heart attack in yourself or a loved one, please call 911 immediately. Getting emergency care as soon as possible is critical to minimize the damage to the heart muscle.

Your heart muscle needs a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood. The coronary arteries give your heart this critical blood supply. If you have coronary artery disease, the arteries become narrow, and blood can’t flow as well as it should, causing a heart attack.

Your health conditions, lifestyle, age, and family history can increase your heart disease and heart attack risk. You may not have any control over factors such as your age or family history. However, you can exercise some control over other factors.

Conditions that make you more susceptible to a heart attack include:

• High Blood Pressure – This is a medical condition when the blood flows through your blood vessels at very high pressure. The condition causes minimal to zero symptoms and usually stays undetected unless you measure your blood pressure. Monitoring your blood pressure will keep you aware of the condition and highlight spikes and dips in the readings for timely treatment.
• Unhealthy Blood Cholesterol Levels – There are two types of blood cholesterol: low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL is unhealthy for the body because it builds up plaque in the arteries and the heart, whereas HDL is considered good cholesterol because it offers protection from heart disease. Unhealthy blood cholesterol levels do not cause symptoms until the condition is severe. Therefore, getting your blood cholesterol levels checked regularly is good practice.
• Diabetes Mellitus – Your pancreas produces insulin to help convert the glucose from the food you eat into energy for your body’s cells. If you have diabetes, this system does not work well and results in rising blood sugar levels. The condition increases your risk of a heart attack.
• Obesity – Obesity or high body fat is linked to unhealthy blood cholesterol levels, which increases your risk of a heart attack.
• Smoking – Cigarette nicotine can increase blood pressure and damage blood vessels. Additionally, carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke impacts your lungs and decreases the amount of oxygen your blood can carry. All these factors significantly increase your risk of a heart attack.

If you have a heart attack, you need immediate medical intervention to open the blocked artery and minimize the damage. At the first signs of a heart attack, please call 911.

In some cases, a heart attack may need cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or an electrical shock (defibrillation) to the heart to get the heart pumping again. Bystanders trained to use CPR or a defibrillator may be able to help until emergency medical personnel arrive.

Immediate care is most valuable in case of a heart attack, and family members or people close by may be able to help with CPR until emergency personnel can arrive. The best time to treat a heart attack is within 1 or 2 hours after symptoms begin. Waiting longer means more damage to your heart and a lower chance of survival.

Emergency medical personnel may enquire about your symptoms and carry out quick tests to diagnose a heart attack. A doctor may conduct additional diagnostic tests to confirm the occurrence of a heart attack.

Tests can include:

• Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) – Used to read the electrical activity of the heart.
• Blood Tests – Used to check for increased levels of cardiac biomarkers, which are released into the bloodstream in case of a heart attack.
• Chest X-rays and Echocardiogram (echo) – Used to view live images of your heart.
• Stress Tests – Used to measure how your heart responds to exertion after a heart attack.
• Cardiac Catheterization – Used to check for blockage in the arteries.

Treatment for heart attacks aims to fix blood flow and restore oxygen supply to the blood. Treatment specifics will depend on whether there is a partial or complete block in the blood vessels.

Medicines may be used to prevent blood clots and improve blood flow to the heart. They may also be used to slow your heartbeat and decrease blood pressure.

Surgical procedures may involve coronary angioplasty (and stenting) or coronary artery bypass surgery. Angioplasty is used to widen clogged arteries and improve blood flow. A stent (small wire mesh tube) may be placed in the artery during angioplasty to keep the channel open. This is called stenting. This procedure is performed using a catheter.

Bypass surgery is an open-heart surgery where your surgeon will take a healthy blood vessel from another part of the body to create a new channel for blood in the heart.

A few days after the treatment has begun and the heart has had a chance to recover, your doctor will likely give you a rehabilitation program with personalized exercise and education program to improve your heart health and minimize the risk of another heart attack.

If you are experiencing sudden and intense chest pain, radiating pain along your arms, or any other heart attack symptoms, please call 911 immediately for emergency care.

For any nagging discomfort in your chest, please call us to schedule a cardiology consultation with Dr. Lilian Ahiable and learn about keeping your heart healthy.

At Sydnor Cardiovascular Center, we provide expert care for people with all types of cardiac concerns. Entrust your heart health with Dr. Ahiable and our team at Sydnor Cardiovascular Center.

To schedule an appointment, call us at 727-300-2282 or request an appointment online.