Heart Attack
Overview
it is a deadly medical emergency where your heart muscle begins to die because it is not getting enough blood flow. It is usually caused by a blockage in the arteries that supply blood to your heart. If blood flow is not restored quickly, a heart attack can cause permanent heart damage and death.
What causes heart attack ?
Because of blockage of blood vessels that supply blood to your heart. Mostly happens due to plaque that can build up in your arteries. the Build Up is called atherosclerosis.
Sometimes plaque deposits inside coronary arteries can break open or rupture and a blood clot can stuck where the rupture happened. If the clot blocks the artery this can deprive the heart muscle of blood and cause heart attack.
Symptoms
- Chest Pain: Mild can feel like discomfort or heaviness or it can be severe feel like crushing pain. It starts through chest and can spread to left arm, neck, jaw and back.
- Shortness of breath or trouble in breathing.
- Nausea or stomach discomfort.
- Heart palpitations.
- Anxiety or sweating.
Diagnosis
- History and symptoms: The provider will ask about symptoms you experienced.
- Lab Testing: Cause specific marker to show up in your blood.
- ECG: This is one of the first test done when someone come with heart attack symptoms.
- Echocardiogram: To generate a picture of inside and outside your heart.
- Angiogram: Taking an X-ray after injecting a dye like substances easily seen on X-ray into your blood. This allows doctors to see areas with little or no blood flow.
- Heart Complete CT Scan.
- Heart MRI.
Treatment
- Supplements oxygen.
- Anti clotting medications.
- Thrombolytic medication.
- Anti-arrhythmic medication.
- Pain Medication.