What are heart attack symptoms in women and men? Signs and causes of myocardial infarction
HEART attacks are a life threatening condition and occur when one of the coronary arteries becomes blocked.
This results in the heart muscle being robbed of vital oxygenated blood.
If this is left untreated, it can cause the heart muscle to begin to die, but what are the symptoms?
What are symptoms of a heart attack?
A heart attack is also known as a myocardial infarction and symptoms can be difficult to spot for sure, because they can vary from person to person.
The most common signs include:
- chest pain, tightness, heaviness, pain or a burning feeling in your chest
- pain in the arms, neck, jaw, back or stomach
- for some people the pain and tightness will be severe, while for others it will just feel uncomfortable
- sweating
- feeling light-headed
- becoming short of breath
- feeling nauseous or vomiting
How is a heart attack treated?
The first port of call for treatment, is for doctors to treat the blocked artery.
There are two main procedures used to open up the blocked blood vessel.
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The first, a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is an emergency coronary angioplasty.
It opens the blockage and helps restore blood supply to the heart.
The second treatment, is thrombosis, also known as a ";clot buster".
It involves injecting a drug into the vein to dissolve the blood clot and restore blood supply to the heart that way.
In some cases this procedure can be performed in the ambulance.
While these treatments are common, in some cases they will not be right for the patient and so won't be performed.
What are the causes of a heart attack?
In most cases a heart attack will be triggered by coronary heart disease.
Coronary heart disease is where the coronary arteries, that supply the heart with oxygen-rich blood, become narrower.
This happens over time, as fatty materials build up in the blood vessel.
If a piece of the fatty material then breaks off, it can cause a blood clot.
When the clot is big enough to block the artery it can cut off the blood supply to the heart muscle.
This is a heart attack, which can also be referred to by its medical names, myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome or coronary thrombosis.
The NHS recently relaunched a tool that predicts when you will have a heart attack or stroke.
A heart attack is different from a cardiac arrest which happens when your heart suddenly stops pumping blood around your body.
How can you prevent a heart attack?
The most important thing a person can do to ward off a heart attack is to live a healthy lifestyle.
Here are five steps you should take to reduce the risk:
- Quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do to boost your heart health as smokers are twice as likely to die from a heart attack, compared to non-smokers.
- Take regular exercise (at least two hours 30 minutes a week for adults).
- Eat a healthy diet which is high-fibre and low fat with at least five portions of fruit and veg a day.
- Limiting alcohol consumption can also reduce your heart attack risk.
- Lose weight if you are overweight or obese.
A heart heart attack is a life-threatening emergency... dial 999 immediately if you suspect someone is having one.