About Heart Attacks

Heart attacks, known by their medical name of acute myocardial infarction, is a state of disease that involves the interruption of the bloody supply to part of the heart. The result is a shortage of oxygen that can damage the heart tissue and potentially kill. Heart attacks are the leading cause of death all over the world. Major heart attack risk factors include a history of angina or vascular disease, a previous stroke or heart attack, old age, excessive alcohol, the abuse of illegal drugs, smoking, episodes of abnormal heart beat, obesity, high levels of stress, high or low cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Myocardial infarction is a term derived from the scientific terms for the heart muscle, myocardium, and tissue death as a result of lack of oxygen infarction. It should be noted that sudden cardiac death is different from a heart attack; a heart attack may or may not result in sudden cardiac death.

Symptoms of heart attacks include anxiety, a feeling of impending doom, chest pain, sweating, shortness of breath, palpitations, nausea, and vomiting. Oftentimes, heart attack patients will feel sick very suddenly. The symptoms for heart attacks in men are often different from the symptoms in women. Women most often experience fatigue, shortness of breath, and a feeling of weakness. About one third of all heart attacks are silent and do not consist of any chest pain or associated symptoms.

When having a heart attack, immediate treatment options often involve the use of aspirin, oxygen, pain relief, and glycerol trinitrate. The patient is then subjected to numerous diagnostic tests, including chest x-rays, blood tests, and electrocardiograms in which elevated troponin or creatine kinase levels or detected. The patient is then prescribed medications that will break down blood clots that may be blocking the flow of blood to the heart. Or, in more extreme cases, the patient will have to undergo bypass surgery, restoring the blood flow to the blocked coronary artery. Abnormal heart rhythms and other associated complications can be quickly and safely treated in coronary care units.

Heart attacks are a common form of ischemic heart disease. The World Health Organization estimated in the year 2002 that over twelve percent of all worldwide deaths arose as a result of ischemic heart disease. In developed countries, it is the leading cause of death. In developing countries, however it comes third behind AIDS and lower respiratory infections.

Heart disease forms the leading cause of death in the United States it is even more common than cancer. An estimated one fifth of all deaths in America come as a result of coronary heart disease. Over thirteen million individuals across the nation suffer from coronary heart disease. Every year, over a million people suffer from coronary heart attacks; four out of every ten individuals die from their attacks. Broken down in to temporal statistics, this means that every sixty five seconds, someone in America dies as the result of a coronary heart attack.

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Heart Attack Statistics
Heart attacks are a common form of ischemic heart disease. The World Health Organization estimated in the year 2002 that over twelve percent of all worldwide deaths arose as a result of ischemic heart disease. In developed countries, it is the leading cause of death. In developing countries, however it comes third behind AIDS and lower respiratory ...

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