Heart attack
A heart attack happens
when the supply of blood that carries
oxygen to
the heart is suddenly blocked, usually by a blood clot. The heart muscle becomes starved for oxygen and
begins to die.
Symptoms
Symptoms of a heart attack can vary from person to
person. They may be mild or severe. Women, older adults, and people with
diabetes are more likely to have subtle or unusual symptoms. Symptoms in adults
may include:
Changes in mental status, especially in older
adults Pain in Chest feels like pressure, squeezing, or fullness.
The pain is usually in the center of the chest. It may also be felt in the jaw,
shoulder, arms, back, and stomach. It can last for more than a few minutes, or
come and go.
If you're having trouble breathing or no
apparent reason, you could be having a heart attack, especially if you're also
having one or more other symptoms. "It
can feel like you have run a marathon, but you didn't make a move,"
Goldberg says.
Numbness, aching, or tingling in the arm (usually the left arm, but
the right arm may be affected alone, or along with the left) Sweating. Breaking out in a nervous, cold sweat is common
among women who are having a heart attack. It will feel more like
stress-related sweating than
perspiration from exercising or
spending time outside in the heat. "Get it checked out" if you don't typically sweat like that and
there is no other reason for it, such as heat or hot flashes,” Bairey Merz
says.
Fatigue
Some women who have heart attacks feel
extremely tired, even if they've been sitting still for a while or haven't
moved much. "Patients often complain
of tiredness in the chest," Goldberg says. "They say that they can't do simple activities, like walk to the
bathroom."
Lots of people make a
full recovery from a heart attack, but there’s a serious risk that the heart
might stop beating – called cardiac arrest. It’s vital that you treat
someone having a heart attack straight away, otherwise they could die. People
who have angina are more likely
to have a heart attack. Angina happens when the arteries to the heart become
narrow and the heart muscle can’t get enough blood. This can happen when
someone’s doing a physical activity but is even more of a concern if it happens
at rest. Angina pain is usually a tight chest pain, which may ease if they rest
straight away and take angina medication, and may only last a few minutes. If
the pain lasts longer, presume it’s a heart attack.
First Aid
Have the person sit down, rest, and try to keep
calm. Loosen any tight clothing. Ask if the person takes any chest pain
medication, such as nitroglycerin, for a known heart condition, and help them
take it. If the pain does not go away promptly with rest or within 3 minutes of
taking nitroglycerin, call for emergency medical help. If the person is
unconscious and unresponsive,
call your local emergency number, and then begin CPR. If an infant or child is
unconscious and unresponsive, perform 1 minute of CPR.
Contact your local medical emergency number. Don't ignore or attempt to tough out the symptoms of a heart attack
for more than five minutes. If you don't have access to emergency medical
services, have a neighbor or a friend drive you to the nearest hospital. Drive
yourself only as a last resort, and realize that it places you and others at
risk when you drive under these circumstances.
Chew and swallow an aspirin, unless you are allergic to aspirin or have been told by your doctor
never to take aspirin. But seek emergency help first.
Take nitroglycerin, if prescribed. If you think you're having a heart attack and your
doctor has previously prescribed nitroglycerin for you, take it as directed. Do
not take anyone else's nitroglycerin, because that could put you in more
danger.
Begin CPR if the person is unconscious. If you're with a person who might be having a
heart attack and he or
she is unconscious, contact the local emergency medical specialist. You may be
advised to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). If you haven't received
CPR training, doctors recommend skipping mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing and
performing only chest compression's (about 100 per minute). The dispatcher can
instruct you in the proper procedures until help arrives.
If an automated external defibrillator (AED) is
available and the person is
unconscious, begin
CPR while the device is retrieved and set up. Attach the
device and follow instructions that will be provided by the AED after it has
evaluated the person's condition.
Not everyone gets all of
those symptoms. If you have chest discomfort, especially if you also have one
or more of the other signs, call for emergency immediately.
DO NOT
Do not leave the person alone except to call for
help, if necessary. Do not allow the person to deny the symptoms and convince
you not to call for emergency help. Do not wait to see if the symptoms go away.
Do not give the person anything by mouth unless a heart medication (such as
nitroglycerin) has been prescribed.
Prevention
Adults should take steps to control heart disease
risk factors whenever possible.
References
Jneid H,
Anderson JL, Wright RS, et al. 2012 ACCF/AHA focused update of the guideline
for the management of patients with unstable angina/non-ST-elevation myocardial
infarction (updating the 2007 guideline and replacing the 2011 focused update):
a report of the American
College
in the next post we discuss about Women Skin Care
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