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What happens during a heart attack?

2023-05-20 14:57:00, Shëndeti CNA

A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, occurs when blood flow to a part of the heart muscle (myocardium) is blocked, and that part of the organ does not receive enough blood. When their blood supply is reduced, the muscle cells in the heart are damaged and die.

The longer it goes without blood circulation, the greater the damage to the heart muscle. According to the American Heart Association, heart attacks are most often caused by blockages in the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle.

Plaque buildup in these arteries is known as coronary artery disease, the most common type of heart disease in the US. Every year, about 805,000 people in the United States alone suffer a heart attack. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 heart attacks are "silent," meaning they go unnoticed because there are no obvious symptoms, such as chest pain. or shortness of breath

Harvard Health says that silent heart attacks tend to affect men more than women. Nearly 12 percent of American adults who experience a heart attack die within a month of the event, according to a 2019 study published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

But heart attack should not be confused with cardiac arrest. The first is caused by impaired blood circulation, while cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating due to an electrical malfunction in this organ.

But what happens during a heart attack?

A heart attack is a medical emergency that can be experienced within minutes or hours. But the groundwork for that event was laid years or decades in advance. The heart is a muscular organ. The average adult's heart beats 100,000 times a day, pumping about 5.7 liters of oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood through the body every minute.

First, blood travels from the heart to the lungs where it is re-oxygenated, before returning to the heart to be pumped into the arteries and then to supply oxygen and nutrients to the brain, digestive system and other body tissues.

Often before a heart attack, the 2 main coronary arteries that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle become narrowed over the years, mainly due to atherosclerosis, a build-up of fatty plaques in the arterial walls.

Atherosclerotic plaques are hard on the outside and soft on the inside, and cause hardening of the arteries. Sometimes, the hard outer surface of the plaques can crack, and blood components called platelets stick to this crack, forming blood clots, which further narrow the artery.

What happens during a heart attack?

If the arteries are already narrowed due to years of atherosclerosis, the clot can completely block the blood supply downstream of the heart. Meanwhile, pieces of the plaque can break off and move through the artery, causing the blockage to expand rapidly. Such blockages can lead to a heart attack, and within minutes the muscle cells in the heart begin to be damaged and die.

In a rarer occurrence, a spasm or sudden contraction of the coronary artery walls can block blood flow to the myocardium and cause a heart attack. These spasms occur more often in people who smoke and those with high cholesterol or high blood pressure. But spasms can sometimes be caused by heavy consumption of alcohol or narcotics.

What are the warning signs of a heart attack?

According to the US CDC the warning signs of a heart attack include:

Chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks include a feeling of uncomfortable pressure in this part of the body, pain in the center or on the left side of it. This discomfort usually lasts for more than a few minutes before fading, or sometimes, it comes, goes away, and then comes back.

Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, such as the jaw, neck, back, arms, or shoulders.

Difficulty breathing.

Feeling of physical weakness or fainting.

Unusual or unexplained fatigue.

Nausea or vomiting.

Heart attack symptoms can differ between men and women, although chest pain or discomfort is the main symptom for both sexes. However, women are more likely to experience other symptoms that are usually less related to a heart attack, such as unusual or unexplained fatigue and vomiting.

Heart attacks are more common in the winter months, compared to other times of the year, and they can be triggered by physical and emotional factors, such as vigorous exercise, fear or extreme anger. Genetic factors, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle can also increase the risk of a heart attack. Long-term exposure to air pollution can also increase the risk of heart attacks.

What is the first treatment for a heart attack?

The first treatment for a heart attack involves removing the blood clot or plaque blocking the artery to limit damage to the heart muscle. Time is an essential factor. If a patient gets to the hospital quickly, doctors can restore the heart's blood supply and prevent or limit damage.

Blood flow can be restored through angioplasty (a non-invasive non-surgical procedure used to widen narrowed or blocked arteries), stenting (inserting a small mesh tube that keeps weak or narrowed arteries open ) or coronary artery bypass grafting (an open-heart operation used to restore blood flow in cases of severe heart attacks).

Patients may also be given medications to prevent further blood clotting, such as aspirin. Additional treatments may include nitroglycerin, or nitrates, which improve blood flow in the coronary arteries and relieve chest pain, as well as thrombolytic drugs, which help dissolve blood clots.