An overview of Myocardial Infarction

A Myocardial Infarction (commonly called a heart attack) is an extremely dangerouscondition caused by a lack of blood flow to your heart muscle. The lack of bloodflow can occur because of many different factors but is usually related to ablockage in one or more of your heart’s arteries. If blood flow isn’t restoredquickly, a heart attack can cause permanent heart damage and death.A heart attack isa life-threatening emergency. If you suspect you or someone you're with is having aheart attack, do not hesitate to visit the hospital. When myocardial Infarctionoccurs the heart muscle begins to die and If blood flow isn’t restored quickly, aheart attack can cause permanent heart damage and death.

Your heart is the main organ in your cardiovascular system, which also includesdifferent types of blood vessels. Some of the most important vessels are thearteries. They take oxygen-rich blood to your body and all of your organs.Thecoronary arteries take oxygen-rich blood specifically to your heart muscle. Whenthese arteries become blocked or narrowed due to a buildup of plaque, the blood flowto your heart can decrease significantly or stop completely. This can cause a heartattack.

Symptoms most often described by people having a Myocardial Infarction:

1. Chest pain (angina). This symptom can be mild and feel like discomfort orheaviness, or it can be severe and feel like crushing pain. It may start in yourchest and spread (or radiate) to other areas like your left arm (or both arms),shoulder, neck, jaw, back or down toward your waist.

2. Shortness of breath or trouble breathing.

3. Nausea or stomach discomfort. Heart attacks can often be mistaken for indigestion.

4. Heart palpitations.

5. Anxiety or a feeling of “impending doom.”

6. Sweating.

7. Feeling lightheaded, dizzy or passing out.

Myocardial Infarction symptoms in women

1. Medical research in recent years has shown that women may have the above symptoms,but also have a higher chance of experiencing symptoms different from those listedabove.Women are less likely to describe the following:

Chest pain, especially in the center of the chest.

Discomfort that feels like indigestion.

Shortness of breath, fatigue and insomnia that started before the heart attack.

Pain in the back, shoulders, neck, arms or abdomen.

Nausea and vomiting.

In general, there are many things that you can do that may prevent a heart attack.However, some factors beyond your control — especially your family history — canstill lead to a heart attack despite your best efforts. Still, reducing your riskcan postpone when you have a heart attack and reduce the severity if you have one.

To determine whether you’ve had a heart attack, your doctor will look over thehistory of your symptoms, as well as your vital signs such as your blood pressure.Your doctor will then complete a physical exam with specific attention to theheart.Your doctor will also run a number of different tests if they suspect thatyou’ve had a heart attack. An electrocardiogram (EKG) may be done to measure yourheart’s electrical activity.Blood tests will also be used to check for proteins thatare associated with heart damage, such as troponin.Your doctor may also perform anangiogram with coronary catheterization to look for areas of blockage in yourarteries.

Treating a heart attack means restoring blood flow to the affected heart muscle assoon as possible. This can happen in a variety of ways, ranging from medication tosurgery. It's extremely likely that treatment will use several of the followingmethods.

Supplementary oxygen

People having trouble breathing or with low blood oxygen levels will often receivesupplementary oxygen along with other heart attack treatments. You can breathe theoxygen either through a tube that sits just below your nose or a mask that fits overyour nose and mouth. This increases the amount of oxygen circulating in the bloodand reduces the strain on your heart.

Medications

Anti-clotting medications: This includes aspirin and other blood-thinning medicines.

Nitroglycerin: This medicine is used to relieve chest pain. It also is a powerfulvasodilator, meaning it causes blood vessels to widen so blood can pass through moreeasily.

Thrombolytic (clot-busting) medications: These intravenous (IV) medications causeblood clots to break down and dissolve. These medications are usually used onlywithin the first 12 hours after a heart attack.

Anti-arrhythmia medications: Heart attacks can often cause malfunctions in yourheart’s normal beating rhythm called arrhythmias. Some arrhythmias can belife-threatening. Anti-arrhythmia medications can stop or prevent thesemalfunctions.

Pain medications: The most common pain medication given during heart attack care ismorphine. This can help alleviate chest pain.

Percutaneous coronary intervention

PCI is a critical tool in restoring blood flow, and the sooner that happens, thebetter the chance of a good outcome. Hospitals use a metric called “door-to-balloontime” to measure their ability to treat a heart attack. This is the average time ittakes for patients to undergo PCI after they first come into the Emergency Room.PCIoften includes the placement of a stent at the site of the blockage. Stents are madeof metallic mesh and look like tube-shaped scaffolds. They help hold the artery openso another blockage doesn’t happen in the same spot. Some stents are coated with amedication that prevents clotting or tissue growth on the stent itself (either ofwhich could cause another blockage).

Coronary artery bypass grafting

Patients who have severe blockages of their coronary arteries may undergo coronaryartery bypass grafting. This surgery is often called open-heart surgery, bypasssurgery or CABG (the acronym is pronounced the same as “cabbage”).CABG involvestaking a blood vessel from elsewhere in the body (usually your chest, arm or leg)and using it to construct a detour for blood to use. This reroutes blood around theblocked artery section (or more than one artery; a double bypass goes around twoarteries, three is a triple, and so on).

Heart attacks are usually diagnosed in an emergency room setting. A healthcareprovider will diagnose a heart attack using the following:

History and symptoms: The provider will ask you about the symptoms you experienced.If someone was with you, the provider might also ask them to describe what happened.

Lab testing: Heart attacks cause a specific chemical marker to show up in your blood.

Heart-specific diagnostic tests: This includes tests that detect and record theelectrical activity in your heart.

Imaging tests: These tests give providers a way to “see” inside your heart. Many ofthese tests can also show the location of a blood flow blockage, which can guidetreatment.

Several key factors affect your risk of having a heart attack. Unfortunately, some ofthese risk factors aren't things you can control.

1. Age and sex : Your risk of heart attack increases as you get older, and your sexalso influences when your risk of a heart attack starts to increase:Men: The risk ofheart attack increases greatly at age 45.Women: The risk of heart attack increasesgreatly at age 50 or after menopause.

2. Family history : If you have a parent or sibling with a history of heart diseaseor heart attack — especially at a younger age — your risk is even greater.

3. Lifestyle : The lifestyle choices you make can also affect your risk of having aheart attack.Lack of physical activity,A diet high in sodium, sugar and fat,Smokingor tobacco use (including smokeless or chewing tobacco and vaping),Drinking too muchalcohol,Drug abuse (especially in younger individuals),

3. Other diseases and health conditionsThe following health conditions can increaseyour risk of heart attack:Diabetes.Obesity.High blood pressure (hypertension).Highcholesterol (hyperlipidemia).Eating disorders (especially in younger individuals).