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A heart attack follows when the flow of blood to the heart is blocked. It results in a damaged muscle of the heart. Remember, medically cardiac arrest is different from a heart attack. It is basically as mentioned disruption of a blood flow while cardiac arrest is a disruption of a pumping system of the heart.
As we know, when the pumping system of a heart is disrupted, it stops the flow of blood to the whole body, thus creating pulse absence, consciousness loss and sometimes death. Most of the time a heart attack is not fatal like cardiac arrest, but if not handled properly, it could lead to cardiac arrest and then sudden death.
But here in this article, we will talk about heart attack and its symptoms. If you know or feel like you are having a heart attack, seek medical assistance immediately in UAE best hospital to decrease the amount of damage to your heart and to save yourself from any hazardous consequences.
How does it happen?
As mentioned above the heart blockage triggers heart attack because blockage creates a narrowing of coronary arteries and stops the oxygen and blood flow to the heart. You might be thinking about what caused the blockage, well, the culprit is plaque (cholesterol and some other substance). It builds up in the coronary arteries and causes coronary heart disease.
When a heart attack occurs, the plaque ruptures the arteries and creates a blood clot, this clot either restricts or completely tops the blood flow to the heart, causing considerable damage to the heart muscles. A tear causes small blood clots or fat particles to travel from other parts of the body known as coronary embolism.
Heart attack also happen when the flow of blood to the heart is reduced due to
- Severe blood loss
- Shock as a result of trauma
- Heatstroke
- Spasm or contraction in a coronary artery
Symptoms of Heart Attack That You Should Look Out for:
Here are the most common symptoms of a heart attack that one should be aware of if they themselves or anyone around them is prone to a heart attack.
Chest Pain or Discomfort:
The chest pain or discomfort is the most common type of symptom to make a person aware of a heart attack: tightness, pressure, or pain in the chest. The level of pain and pressure is different for different people, for some, it is like someone sitting on your chest, and for others, it is like a little pinching. Some people have also reported feeling burning in their chest.
The feeling can occur anytime either you are resting or doing something, and it lasts for more than a few minutes. If the pain lasts longer, seek medical assistance immediately. Sometimes you do not feel pain and suffer from a heart attack, and this problem is common in women.
Severe Ache in Arms:
The classic heart attack symptoms which we all are familiar with is an ache or severe pain in the left side of a body. The pain starts from your chest and feels like moving in an outward direction. It sometimes may feel like just a normal arm pain, so if you or somebody around you is heart patient, you should not ignore arm pains.
The pain of a heart attack is not restricted to any particular area; you can also feel discomfort or pain in the neck, back, or jaw too.
Heartburn, Indigestion, Nausea, or Stomach Pain
Heartburn, Indigestion, Nausea are also the most common symptoms. You may get severe vomiting conditions during a heart attack. This complaint is most common in women as compared to men. The reasons for stomach pain could be many, which may not be related to your heart, but if you are more prone to heart conditions, this could be one more symptom to look out for.
Shortness of breath and lightheadedness:
Shortness-of-breath is the most common symptom of a heart attack. It can occur with and without chest pain, plus it can happen before and after the heart attack. This is the most common and top symptom in women having a heart attack.
You may feel lightheadedness, and you may, for a moment, could lose your balance. If you experience such a condition when you have eaten and drink enough and everything is normal, then you need medical help. Why because maybe it happened because your pumping organ, i.e., the heart is not pumping blood the way it is supposed to do.
Conclusion:
Remember, not all people suffer from the same symptoms. Also, the severity of the symptoms also varies from person to person. Some people get severe aches and others just normal fatigue. Doctors and cardiologists have also found people who do not show any kind of symptoms, and their first symptom is cardiac arrest which sometimes causes sudden death. Still, the more number of signs mentioned above means that you are suffering from a heart attack.
Yes, some heart attacks occur suddenly, but if people notice themselves, the symptoms start hours and sometimes a week before a heart attack actually occurs. And the most common type is angina, i.e., chest pain caused by a decrease in blood flow that is alleviated by rest.
If you feel the symptoms, immediate steps would be to call an emergency helpline and take nitroglycerin or aspirin (would reduce chances of a blood clot and keeps the blood flowing) as recommended