Heart Attack Symptoms - Killer Disease Signs, Treatment & Risk Factors in Igboland Africa

Heart Attack Killer Disease

The term "heart attack" is often used to refer to signs and symptoms that result from the sudden blockage of blood flow to a portion of the heart. Without good blood flow, the heart does not receive enough oxygen and begins to die.

People suffering a heart attack may experience symptoms such as chest pain, sweating, nausea, weakness, and shortness of breath.

Each year millions of people have heart attacks. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women.

Heart attack is the common term for a myocardial infarction. This refers to the permanent damage done to the heart muscle, or myocardium, when blood flow is blocked. A heart attack most commonly happens when a blood vessel that brings blood to the heart is suddenly blocked by a blood clot.

While heart attacks usually come on suddenly, it's really the result of a process that takes years to develop. Over time, a person's blood vessels may become hardened and narrowed by the buildup of cholesterol and other fatty substances.

Reducing risk factors for coronary artery disease ~ such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure - is an important way to prevent a first or subsequent heart attack.

A heart attack usually occurs over several hours. Fast action is the best weapon against a heart attack. If a person is treated during the first two hours after a heart attack, early treatments can improve outcomes.

For example, medications called clot busters can break down a blood clot blocking a coronary artery, restoring blood flow to the heart and even preventing or reducing the amount of permanent damage done to the heart.

In addition, preventing or treating serious abnormal heart rhythms that may occur with a heart attack are an important ways of saving lives.

The coronary arteries supply the heart muscle with oxygen and nutrients. The word "coronary" means a crown, and is the name given to the arteries that circle the heart like a crown.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common form of heart disease. Coronary heart disease develops when one or more of the coronary arteries that supply the blood to the heart become narrower than they used to be, due to the buildup of cholesterol and other substances in the wall of the artery, affecting the blood flow to the heart muscle.

Without an adequate blood supply, heart muscle tissue can be damaged. Deposits of cholesterol and other fat-like substances can build up in the inner lining of these blood vessels and become coated with scar tissue forming a cholesterol-rich bump in the blood vessel wall known as plaque.

Plaque buildup narrows and hardens the blood vessel, a process called athecosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

Eventually these plaque deposits can build up to significantly reduce or block blood flow to the heart. A person may experience chest-pain or discomfort from inadequate blood flow to the heart, especially during exercise when the heart needs more oxygen. This type of chest pain is called angina.

What Are The Symptoms Of A Heart Attack?

Heart attacks occur most frequently between 6 and 10 a.m.

• Higher amounts of the hormone epinephrine (adrenaline) in blood in early morning
• An increased systolic blood pressure
• Increased blood thickness or "stickiness"

• Vague chest discomfort.
• Fatigue.
• Malaise (a feeling of general discomfort or uneasiness).
• Shortness of breath.
• Weakness.
• Nausea and/or vomiting.

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