A heart attack is a life-threatening event in which the supply of blood and oxygen to part of the heart is blocked. Many heart attack victims wait two hours or more after their symptoms begin before they seek medical help. This delay can result in death or lasting heart damage. Quickly seeking treatment for a heart attack may help prevent much or all of the permanent damage a heart attack can cause.
Each year, more than a million people in the United States have a heart attack. About half (515,000) of these people die as a result. About half of those who die do so within one hour of the start of symptoms and before reaching the hospital.
The cause of a heart attack (also known as a
myocardial infarction) is a severely narrowed or completely blocked coronary artery that causes a decrease in oxygen and nutrients to heart muscle. Without oxygen and nutrients, heart muscle dies.
In most cases, the underlying cause of a blocked coronary artery is a blood clot in people with
coronary artery disease (known to most people as simply
heart disease). Less commonly, the underlying cause of a heart attack is a spasm in a coronary artery that completely closes the artery.
What Are the Risk Factors?
There are a number of factors that increase a person's chance for having a heart attack. These are known as risk factors. While not causes of a heart attack, risk factors play a significant role in the likelihood of someone having one. Commonly, these risk factors are separated into those that can be controlled and those that cannot. The more risk factors you have, the greater your chances are of having a heart attack.
Heart attack risk factors include:
Symptoms vary from person to person. In fact, if you have a second heart attack, your symptoms may not even be the same as they were for the first one. Some people have no symptoms at all. This is called a "silent heart attack."
- Chest discomfort
- Pain in one or both arms, the left shoulder, neck, jaw, or back
- Shortness of breath
- Cold sweat
- Nausea and vomiting
- Light-headedness or dizziness
- Abnormal heartbeats.
Other vague symptoms may include:
Diagnosing a Heart Attack
In order to make a diagnosis, the healthcare provider will work quickly to find out if you are having or have had a heart attack. He or she will ask a number of questions and perform a physical exam, looking for signs or symptoms of a heart attack. The healthcare provider will also order certain tests or procedures. Initial tests will be quickly followed by treatment if you are having a heart attack.
The goals of treatment are to:
- Quickly restore blood flow to the heart
- Continuously monitor your vital signs to detect and treat heart attack complications
- Make lifelong changes to reduce the chances of another heart attack.
Depending on the situation, specific treatment for heart attacks can include:
Delaying treatment can mean lasting damage to your heart or even death. The sooner treatment for a heart attack begins, the better your chances of recovering.
Recovering From a Heart Attack
There are millions of people who have survived a heart attack, and many experience a full recovery and are able to lead full and productive lives.
During recovery, your goals are to:
- Recover and resume normal activities as much as possible
- Prevent another heart attack
- Prevent complications, such as heart failure or cardiac arrest.
After a heart attack, you will need to see your doctor regularly for checkups and tests to see how your heart is doing. Your doctor will most likely recommend:
- Lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, changing your diet, or increasing your physical activity
- Participation in a cardiac rehabilitation program
- Medications such as aspirin (see Aspirin and Heart Attacks), nitroglycerin tablets for angina, medicines to lower your cholesterol or blood pressure, and medicines to help reduce your heart's workload.
Preventing heart attacks requires a healthy lifestyle and possibly treatment for conditions that increase the risk for heart attack. If you have had one in the past, you can make a plan with your doctor to work toward preventing another in the future.
Other Names for a Heart Attack
The following terms may also be used to refer to a heart attack:
- Myocardial infarction, or MI
- Acute myocardial infarction, or AMI
- Acute MI
- Acute coronary syndrome
- Coronary thrombosis
- Coronary occlusion.
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