What is a heart attack?
A heart attack is a medical emergency, and the leading cause of death for both men and women in
industrialized nations. The medical term for a heart attack is myocardial infarction. The term
myocardial infarction originated from myocardium (meaning heart muscle) and infarction (meaning
tissue death due to oxygen starvation). People often use the phrase "heart attack" loosely to describe sudden
cardiac death, which may or may not have been from a myocardial infarction. It has been
estimated that 35% of heart attacks result in sudden death. Heart disease often has few
symptoms. For 40% of those deaths, sudden death (or cardiac arrest) was the very first symptom
of heart disease.
Symptoms of an acute myocardial infarction include chest
pain radiating to the left arm, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, palpitations,
sweating, and shortness of breath. It's often accompanied by a sudden feeling of illness, or a
sense of doom. Symptoms can vary between men and women. Women frequently experience
shortness of breath, weakness, and fatigue. About one third of all heart attacks are silent with no
chest pain or other obvious symptoms, and they are not life-threatening, but harbingers of more to
come!
Who is at risk for a heart attack?
The risk factor concept is a good way to determine the likelihood
of coronary heart disease:
- The most serious risk factor by far is an elevated blood cholesterol. Men, 50 years and older,
with cholesterol levels over 295 mg% (or 7.6 mmol/L) are 10 times more likely to develop
atherosclerosis (or narrowing and hardening of the arteries) than men the same age with levels under 200 mg% (or 5.1 mmol/L). A 20 percent
decrease in blood cholesterol levels lowers the risk of a coronary by about 50 percent.
- By age 60, smokers are 10 times more likely than non-smokers to die
from heart disease. More than 150,000 coronary deaths a year are directly related to smoking.
- In North America every third adult has high blood pressure. This
triples the likelihood of coronary heart attack and death when compared to a person with normal blood pressure.
- Obese men are five times more likely to die of heart disease by age 60 than men of normal weight.
- Other risk factors are diabetes, elevated triglycerides, sedentary lifestyle, stress and possibly
an elevated homocysteine blood level. Fortunately, all of these risk factors can
be positively affected by some simple changes in diet and lifestyle. Heredity, age, and gender are
also risk factors, but they are not easily subject to change.
Contact
CHIP to learn more about
the risks and consequences related to heart attacks. "Be Healthy by Choice, Not by Chance!".
