How to survive HEART ATTACK when alone and complete anatomy of Heart Attack.
From Rochester General Hospital
If everyone who gets this sends it to 10 people, you can bet that we'll save at least one life.
Let's say it's 6:15 p.m.and you're driving home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day on
the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly, you start experiencing severe pain
in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five
miles from the hospital nearest your home; unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make
it that far. What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught the course
neglected to tell you how to perform it on yourself. Since many people are alone when they
suffer a heart attack, this article seemed to be in order.
Without help, the person whose heart stops beating properly and who begins to feel faint, has
only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves
by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough. ( Remember if you
take a deep long breath and release its comes out in form of cough. give a try now).
The cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.
And a cough must be repeated about every 2 seconds without let up until help arrives, or until
the heart is felt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood
circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way,
heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this, it
could save their lives! From Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240s
newsletter AND THE BEAT GOES ON ... (reprint from The Mended Hearts, Inc. Publication,
Heart Response) ...
Heart Attack
In order to keep pumping, day in and day out, the heart requires its own constant supply of
oxygen and nutrients. Two large, branching coronary arteries deliver oxygenated blood to the
heart muscle. Should one of these arteries or branches shut down, a portion of the heart is
starved of oxygen and fuel, a condition called ischemia. If an ischemic attack lasts too long,
the starved heart tissue dies. This event defines heart attack, otherwise known as myocardial
infarction -- literally, "death of heart muscle."
Most attacks last for several hours. (But never wait to seek help if you think an attack is
beginning.) The signs of the heart attack may be no more than shortness of breath, faintness or
nausea; and in some cases there are no symptoms. But most heart attacks produce some pain.
The pain of a severe attack has been likened to a giant fist enclosing and squeezing the heart;
if the attack is mild, it may be mistaken for heartburn. The pain may be constant or intermittent.
The majority of heart attack victims are warned of trouble well in advance by episodes of angina
(chest pain) that, like a heart attack, is provoked by ischemia. The difference is mainly one
of degree: With angina, blood flow is quickly restored, pain recedes within minutes, and the
heart is not permanently damaged; with heart attack, blood flow is critically reduced or fully
blocked, pain lasts, and heart tissue dies without prompt treatment.
About a third of all heart attacks occur without any previous warning signs. They are sometimes
associated with a phenomenon known as silent ischemia -- sporadic interruptions of blood flow to
the heart that, for unknown reasons, are pain free, although they gradually damage the heart tissue.
The condition can be detected by ECG (electrocardiogram) testing. An estimated 3 million to 4 million
Americans may be afflicted with silent ischemia.
A third of all heart attack victims die before reaching a hospital; others suffer life-threatening
complications while in the hospital. Serious complications include stroke, persistent heart
arrhythmias (irregular heart beats), congestive heart failure, formation of blood clots in the legs
or heart, and aneurysm or bulging in a weakened heart chamber. But those who survive the initial
attack and are free from major problems a few hours later stand a better chance of full recovery.
Recovery is always a delicate process, because any attack weakens the heart to some degree. But
generally, a normal life can be resumed within three months.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, with heart attack as the
No. 1 killer. But nothing is inevitable about those figures: Most forms of heart disease, including
heart attack, are preventable.
Symptoms
A prolonged crushing, squeezing or burning pain in the center of the chest. The pain may radiate to
the neck, one or both arms, or the jaw. Shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, chills, sweating,
weak pulse. Cold and clammy skin, gray pallor, a severe appearance of illness.
Fainting (rare).
Causes
Like earthquakes, many heart attacks occur as sudden catastrophes yet actually represent a
culmination of events that have been proceeding beneath the surface for years. Most heart
attacks are the end result of coronary heart disease, an atherosclerotic condition that clogs
coronary arteries with fatty, calcified plaques. (As blood flow is gradually impeded, the body
may compensate by growing a network of collateral arteries to circumvent blockages; the presence
of collateral vessels may greatly reduce the amount of heart muscle damaged by a heart attack.)
In the early 1980s, researchers confirmed that the precipitating cause of nearly all heart attacks
is not the obstructive plaque itself, but the sudden formation of a blood clot on top of plaque
that cuts off flow in an already narrowed vessel.
While the step-by-step process leading to heart attack is not fully understood, major risk factors
are well-established. Some can be controlled. Of these, the main ones are high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, obesity, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle. Stress is also believed to raise the risk,
and exertion and excitement can act as triggers for an attack.
Men over the age of 50 with a family history of heart disease are predisposed to heart attack.
High levels of estrogen are thought to protect premenopausal women fairly well from heart attack,
but risk increases significantly after menopause. Some women opt for hormone replacement therapy
after menopause; the choice should be made with full knowledge that elevated estrogen levels also
increase the risk for breast and uterine cancers. (See Menopausal Problems.)
Diagnostic and Test Procedures
A cardiologist relies on various tests and scans to diagnose a heart attack and to identify sites of
arterial blockage and tissue damage. ECG recordings of electrical activity within the heart,
supported by blood tests, provide data for an initial assessment of the patient's condition.
Images of the heart and coronary arteries supplied by angiograms and radioisotope scans locate
specific areas of damage and blockage. Ultrasound studies called echocardiogram evaluate the
heart's function. With such data, the attending physician can pursue proper treatment and
anticipate potential complications.
Treatment
Heart attack is a medical emergency that must be quickly addressed by conventional medicine.
Alternative medicine cannot compete with standard drug and surgical therapy during the emergency
and follow-up phases of heart attack treatment. However, alternative medicine can make valuable
contributions to prevention and recovery.
Conventional Medicine
Heart attack victims are usually hospitalized in special coronary care units (CCU) for at least 36
hours. Standard drug therapy includes a painkiller such as morphine, vasodilators such as
nitroglycerine, beta-adrenergic blocker drugs to calm the heart, and aspirin to reduce clotting
activity. In some cases, clot-dissolving drugs like t-PA or streptokinase are also administered.
These drugs are most effective if given within a few hours of heart attack onset.
Emergency angioplasty, and possibly surgery, might be performed to remove a clot, reopen a clogged
artery, or bypass blocked arteries.
Once past the critical phase, patients contto receive beta blockers to slow the heart, nitrates
to increase heart blood flow, and anticoagulants such as heparin, warfarin or aspirin to prevent
further clotting.
While hospitalized, heart attack patients are hooked to ECG machines for constant monitoring,
in case heart rhythm abnormalities develop. If the heart starts beating too fast or too slow,
various medications may be given. Some patients may be fitted with pacemakers. If apatient
experiences a dangerous arrhythmia known as ventricular fibrillation, an electric shock to the
chest is administered. Patients who show signs of congestive heart failure are given a variety of
medications to decrease strain on the heart and to encourage the heart to beat more forcefully.
People recovering from a heart attack are urged to get back on their feet as quickly as possible,
which reduces the chances of blood clots forming in the deep veins of the legs; the clots could
travel through the circulatory system and lodge in the lung, creating a blockage. Gentle exercise
is recommended, but nothing that requires significant exertion. Long-term recovery from heart
attack requires psychological and lifestyle adjustments: Habits such as smoking, heavy drinking
and eating high-fat foods have to go.
As a preventive measure, most heart attack survivors take a daily aspirin tablet to thin the blood.
Other drugs may also be prescribed, depending on the individual case.
Some patients require invasive procedures to improve blood flow to the heart over the long term.
The two most common procedures are angioplasty -- a catheter technique that widens clogged arteries
by splitting plaques -- and coronary bypass surgery, which diverts blood flow around clogged arteries.
Lifestyle
Regular aerobic exercise greatly enhances efforts to prevent or recover from heart attack. If
you already have a heart condition, schedule a stress test before beginning an exercise program
in order to determine how much exertion is safe. Heart attack survivors are advised to exercise
with other people rather than alone during the first months of recovery. Many community health and
recreation centers offer physician-supervised cardiovascular rehabilitation programs.
Mind/Body Medicine
Reducing stress by training the mind and body to relax may be one of the risk factors that you can
control to help prevent heart attack and can aid in recovery. Many techniques promote relaxation --
among them, meditation, biofeedback and yoga. Relaxation has also been shown to provide relief from
pain, which may be encountered during the recovery period.
State of mind is another important consideration in heart attack recovery. People with a positive
attitude about recovery tend to do much better than people who view themselves as "cardiac cripples."
You may find that a particular mind/body technique helps you to focus on positive thoughts. You may
also find, as many others have, that sharing thoughts and emotions with a support group is extremely
beneficial.
Nutrition and Diet
The basic goals of a heart-healthy diet are to keep salt, sugar and saturated fat to a minimum so as
to reduce cholesterol, control blood pressure and hold weight in check. Eating magnesium-rich foods
such as nuts, beans, bran, fish and dark green vegetables may help prevent heart attack. Magnesium
protects the heart directly and indirectly, by stabilizing heart rate, reducing coronary artery spasm,
and combating such conditions as atherosclerosis and high blood pressure.
Much evidence suggests that unstable chemical compounds known as free radicals make the body more
vulnerable to heart attack by striking the heart and coronary arteries and promoting atherosclerosis.
Free radicals can be neutralized by antioxidants like vitamins A, C and E. Fruits, vegetables and
grains supply many of the antioxidant vitamins.
Eating root vegetables, such as carrots, may also help prevent heart attack. These vegetables
lower cholesterol over the long term and reduce blood-clotting activity.
At-Home Remedies
Remember: Having a heart attack does not make you an invalid. You can best heal your heart by
remaining active. Do not take birth-control pills if you have had a heart attack; they are linked to
increased blood-clotting activity. Get a pet. Pet owners recover more quickly from heart attacks
-- probably because of reduced stress levels -- and tend to live longer than people without pets.
Just be sure to choose a pet that fits your lifestyle.
Prevention
Stay in touch with friends and family. Research shows that people with poor social support are more
vulnerable to heart disease. Also, seek ways to control feelings of anger and hostility; these
emotions may add to heart attack risk.
Assess your heart attack risk profile and make appropriate changes to diet and lifestyle early.
If you are at high risk for heart attack, have yourself tested regularly for silent ischemia.
Talk with your doctor about taking an aspirin daily. Studies have shown that this regimen
significantly reduces the risk of heart attack.
Call Your Doctor If:
You or someone you are with manifests signs of a heart attack. Seek emergency help without delay.
You suffer from angina (chest pain) and begin to experience pain that is similar but does not respond
to medication; this may indicate that a heart attack is under way.
Your angina attacks become more frequent, prolonged and severe; as angina worsens, the risk of heart
attack increases.
You are taking aspirin to prevent heart attack and your stool appears black and tarry. This may
indicate gastrointestinal bleeding and could be a sign that aspirin has thinned your blood too much,
a problem that can and should be corrected.
Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only. In no way should it be
considered as offering medical advice. I assumes no responsibility for how this material
is used. Please check with a physician if you suspect you are ill. Also note that while I
frequently updates its contents, medical information changes rapidly. Therefore, some information
may be out of date.
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