Nrs Oke Ololade
A heart attack is often confused for a cardiac arrest just as we read in the last week’s edition. While they are both medical emergencies, a heart attack is the blockage of an artery leading to the heart damage, which consequently results in cardiac arrest. That is, it involves the heart stopping the pumping of blood around the body. According to WHO, an estimated 17.9 million people died from Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in 2016, representing 31% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% are due to heart attack and stroke. Over three quarters of CVD deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries of which Nigeria is in this category. In Nigeria, more than 1.5 million cases per year are reported. In 2019, four out of five Cardio Vascular disease (CVDs) deaths are due to heart attacks and strokes, which is responsible for the high burden of morbidity and disability. Most people with CVDs are not aware until catastrophes like stroke, heart attack or death occur.
A heart attack happens when something blocks the blood flow to your heart so it can’t get the oxygen it needs. Heart attacks are also called myocardial infarctions (MI). “Myo” means muscle, “cardial” refers to the heart, and “infarction” means death of tissue because of a lack of blood supply. This tissue death can cause lasting damage to your heart muscle. The heart muscle needs a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood, while the coronary arteries give your heart this critical blood supply. If you have coronary artery disease, those arteries become narrow, and blood can not flow as much as it should. When the blood supply is blocked, you have a heart attack. Fat, calcium, proteins, and inflammatory cells build up in your arteries to form plaques. These plaque deposits are hard on the outside, soft and mushy on the inside. When the plaque is hard, the outer shell cracks. This is called a rupture. Platelets (disc-shaped things in your blood that help it clot) come to the area, and blood clots form around the plaque. If a blood clot blocks your artery, your heart muscle becomes starved of oxygen. Then, muscle cells soon die, causing permanent damage. Rarely, a spasm in your coronary artery can also cause a heart attack. During this coronary spasm, your arteries restrict or spasm on and off, cutting off the blood supply to the heart muscle (ischemia). It can happen while one is at rest and an individual not having any history of serious coronary artery disease.
Heart attack is referred to as silent killer because often times the signs and symptoms are mistakenly referred to as signs of anxiety. The amazing thing about this disease is that not all people who have heart attacks have the same symptoms or have the same severity of symptoms. Some people have mild pain; others have more severe pain. Some people have no symptoms, for some, the first sign may be sudden cardiac arrest. However, the more signs and symptoms you have, the greater the chance of you having a heart attack. Many people have warning signs and symptoms hours, days or weeks in advance. The earliest warning might be recurrent chest pain or pressure (angina) that is triggered by activity and relieved by rest. Angina is caused by a temporary decrease in blood flow to the heart. Discomfort, pressure, heaviness, tightness, squeezing, or pain in your chest or arm or below your breastbone. Discomfort that goes into your back, jaw, throat, or arm. Feeling of fullness, indigestion, or a choking feeling (it may feel like heartburn), sweating, upset stomach, vomiting, or dizziness. Severe weakness, anxiety, fatigue, or shortness of breath, fast or uneven heartbeat. Women are more likely to have symptoms like an upset stomach, shortness of breath, or back or jaw pain. With some, heart attacks symptoms are (a “silent” myocardial infarction) and is more common in people who have diabetes
Certain factors contribute to the unwanted build-up of fatty deposits (atherosclerosis) that narrows arteries throughout your body. You can improve or eliminate many of these risk factors to reduce your chances of having a first or another heart attack. Heart attack risk factors include:
- Age: Men age 45 or older and women age 55 or older are more likely to have a heart attack than are younger men and women.
- Tobacco: This includes smoking and long-term exposure to second-hand smoke.
- High blood pressure: Over time, high blood pressure can damage arteries that lead to the heart. High blood pressure that occurs with other conditions, such as obesity, high cholesterol or diabetes, increases an individual’s risk even more.
- Lack of physical activity: Being inactive contributes to high blood cholesterol levels and obesity. People who exercise regularly have better heart health, including lower blood pressure.
- Family history of heart attacks: If your siblings, parents or grandparents have had early heart attacks (by age 55 for males and by age 65 for females), you might be at increased risk.
- Stress: The body responds to stress in ways that can increase the risk of a heart attack.
- Illicit drug use: Using stimulant drugs, such as cocaine or amphetamines, can trigger a spasm of the coronary arteries that can cause a heart attack.
It is never too late to take steps to prevent a heart attack even if you have already had one.
Tips for Heart Attack Prevention:
The goal after an episode of heart attack is to keep the heart healthy and lower the risk of having another heart attack. Take medications as directed, make healthy lifestyle changes, and see the doctor for regular heart check-ups.
Medications: Taking medications can reduce the risk of a subsequent heart attack and help damaged heart function better.
Lifestyle factors: You know the drill; maintain a healthy weight with a heart-healthy diet, don’t smoke, exercise regularly, manage stress and control conditions that can lead to a heart attack, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Leaving you on this note this week, please, do remember, never to wait till something goes wrong before we see your health care providers; and the secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly and to always remember to take care of your body because it is the only place you have to live.