Heart Attack

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• QHow can I prevent a heart attack?

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  A St Francis Medical Center answered

  Following are things you can do to help prevent heart disease and heart attacks: 

  • Don't smoke. Smoking is the number one reversible risk factor for heart disease and heart attacks. 
  • If you have diabetes, make sure you’re watching your diet, watching your blood sugar, and are on the correct medications. Make sure you visit your doctors, and make sure that they’ve checked your cholesterol and blood pressure to keep you on the straight path. The worst thing you could do as a diabetic is to smoke. 
  • Stick to a low carbohydrate, low saturated fat diet like the Mediterranean diet. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Eat more lean meats like chicken and fish, and try to stay away from beef and prime ribs. On top of that, stay away from white bread, sugars and soft drinks. These are really wasted calories and only going to make things worse. Also, one glass of red wine a day is recommended.
  • Try to reduce stress. Stress is a source of inflammation in the whole body and can contribute to overall heart attacks. There's actually a stress-induced heart attack that can occur.

  Trinity Health is a Catholic health care organization that acts in accordance with the Catholic tradition and does not condone or support all practices covered in this site. In case of emergency call 911. This site is educational and not a substitute for professional medical advice, always seek the advice of a qualified health care provider.

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• QWho is at risk of a heart attack?

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  A Frankfort Regional Medical Center answered

  The risk factors for heart attack include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, male gender and a family history of heart disease in a first-degree male relative younger than 55 and/or a female relative younger than 65. Some of those risk factors are reversible, including tobacco use, controlling your high blood pressure and treating your high cholesterol, but some cannot be changed (family history of premature heart disease and gender). And though diabetes treatment has been controversial, the newest studies with some of the newer agents have shown that using certain diabetic medicines may lower your risk for heart attack.

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• QHow is a heart attack diagnosed?

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  A St Francis Medical Center answered

  A heart attack is diagnosed at the very basic level with electrocardiography (EKG). A primary care doctor can do that in their office and, obviously, cardiologists do that in their offices, as well. An EKG in the midst of symptoms can instantly tell if someone is having a heart attack or if he or she is at risk for a heart attack.

  Beyond just a plain EKG, a person might get referred to a cardiologist who would then perform a stress test. Stress testing basically uncovers blockages in the arteries. The person goes on a treadmill and exercises, sometimes coupled with imaging of the heart. Doctors may also do an echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound of the heart that shows how the heart is pumping, how the valves are working and how the heart is functioning, in general. So, doctors definitely have a lot of tests in their arsenal, but at the very basic level, an EKG should be done if a person is complaining of the symptoms.

  Trinity Health is a Catholic health care organization that acts in accordance with the Catholic tradition and does not condone or support all practices covered in this site. In case of emergency call 911. This site is educational and not a substitute for professional medical advice, always seek the advice of a qualified health care provider.

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• QHow does a heart attack affect the body?

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  A Dr. Jeanne Morrison, PhD , Family Medicine, answered on behalf of Sigma Nursing

  A heart attack affects the body by damaging the heart muscle. Without oxygen, the heart muscle begins to die and scar tissue forms there instead. The damage may lead to long-lasting problems. Complications after a heart attack include irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), heart rupture (myocardial rupture), heart failure, leaking heart valves, low blood pressure and swelling of the heart sac (pericarditis).

• QHow is a heart attack treated?

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  A Dr. Linda J. Bogar, MD , Vascular Surgery, answered on behalf of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

  The definitive treatment  for heart attack is to rid the heart arteries of blockages so that more blood is flowing to the heart muscle.  One option is to treat the blockages from the inside of the arteries.  A small balloon is inflated in the artery at the site of the blockage. When inflated, it presses the plaque against the walls of the artery.  This makes the opening of the artery larger and allows more blood to flow.  This is then followed by placing a stent (a hollow metal tube) into the artery at that site.  The stent helps to keep the artery open. 

  Another option to treat a heart attack is with coronary artery bypass surgery which bypasses the blockages by using other arteries or veins to deliver blood past the area of blockage.   A heart attack may also be treated using medicines, but medications alone cannot rid the arteries of blockages.  Instead, medications are used to treat the symptoms, such as chest pain, by slowing the heart rate and decreasing the blood pressure so the heart does not work as hard.  Other medications can be given to temporarily widen the heart arteries to allow for more blood flow.

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• QWhat is a heart attack?

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  A West Hills Hospital & Medical Center answered

  A heart attack occurs any time there is a shut off or there is a decline to the oxygen supply to the heart muscle. What this means is there is a mismatch between the amount of oxygen demanded and the supply. This can happen one of two different ways: The blood supply to the heart muscle can be cut off and trigger a heart attack; or, the demands of the heart muscle from physical distress can increase and the blood supply cannot rise, triggering a heart attack.

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• QHow can I tell if a pain in my chest is a danger sign?

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  A Deb Cordes , Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, answered on behalf of Sigma Nursing

  It is hard to tell if chest pain is or is not a heart attack. It is wise to seek medical attention if the pain or discomfort last more then 5 minutes. If a person also experiences shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, vomiting,or lightheadedness then it would be important to call 911 and seek immediate medical attention. When a person is having a heart attack it is important to receive medical attention immediately.

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• QWhat are risk factors for a heart attack?

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  A Rio Grande Regional Hospital answered

  Risk factors for heart attack include age (over 45 years old in men and over 55 years old in women), smoking, hypertension, elevated cholesterol levels, diabetes, family history, obesity, drug use and a sedentary lifestyle.

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• QWhat causes a heart attack?

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  A Piedmont Heart Institute answered

  Heart attacks, which is a lay term for the medical condition myocardial infarction, occurs when the coronary artery (which is the blood vessel supplying oxygenated blood to the heart muscle) completely blocks off and reduces or eliminates the blood flow to the heart muscle. What causes this is a person who has pre-existing coronary atherosclerosis most of the time. Coronary atherosclerosis is a cholesterol plaque buildup within the walls of the artery. As these plaques begin to encroach on the lumen, or opening of the artery, there is turbulence that is established. In addition, these plaques may become unstable and they may fracture or fragment and release soft cholesterol material—all of which promotes blood clotting on top of the plaque. The final incident is when the blood clot completely blocks the artery superimposed on this cholesterol plaque, leading to a heart attack.

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• QWhat's the basic problem behind a heart attack?

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  A Diana Meeks , Family Medicine, answered on behalf of Sigma Nursing

  When high blood pressure makes your heart work too hard, it contributes to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), the basic problem behind a heart attack. This narrowing and hardening of the arteries builds up over years. This is the same process that causes heart failure, strokes, and kidney failure. Together these problems are the most common causes of serious illness and death in America. But the leading cause of death is still heart attack.  

  Researchers think atherosclerosis begins slowly with minor injuries or wear-and-tear of the inside lining of the arteries, especially the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle. Changes in flow of blood at branches in the arteries, smoking cigarettes and high blood cholesterol may all make these minor injuries happen more easily. At the site of a minor injury there is thought to be a reaction by some of the cells in the blood. This reaction gradually makes the area of injury larger and makes it more likely for a clot to form around the area in the blood vessel. Over time, this builds up and thickens the wall in the artery.Then small cracks or fissures form in the same area that further increase the formation of clots, and the artery narrowing may worsen. A larger clot (thrombosis) can happen suddenly and partially block the flow of blood in the artery.It may even completely stop blood flow altogether. 

  When the blood flow is blocked to the heart muscle, it can become damaged or die which results in a heart attack (myocardial infarction).The heart beat can become very irregular or the heart muscle may not work normally to pump blood to the body's organs, and heart failure may result.