What are the causes of Heart Attacks ?

Heart is defined as a complex muscular organ in the chest part of our body that maintains the circulation through out the body. Heart attack also called, as acute myocardial infarction is nothing but the death of heart tissue, which is caused by the blockage in one of the arteries, which supply blood to the heart. The heart tissue dies when it lacks oxygen for more than thirty minutes, which is also called as ischemia.

Signs or symptoms of getting Heart Attack
• Breathlessness
• Coughing or wheezing
• Buildup of excess fluid in the tissues
• Tiredness
• Nausea
• Increased heart rate
• Chest pain
• Paleness or intense sweating
• Additional symptom includes indigestion

Breathlessness also called as “dyspnea” usually happens due to the storage of blood in pulmonary veins since the heart cannot keep up with the supply. Due to this the fluids starts to leak into the lungs. People experience this when they are in some activity or while resting that happens all of a sudden.

 


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Coughing or wheezing this occurs due to the leakage of fluids into the lungs. An individual can notice by the pink colour blood tinged mucous.

Buildup of excess fluid in the tissues also known as “edema” is occurred when the blood flow out of the heart slows down. Due to this the kidney is unable to dispose sodium and water, which causes fluid back up in the tissues. This is noticeable by swelling of the feet, legs and abdomen.

Tiredness or fatigue here the heart would not be able to supply enough blood as per the requirements of the body tissues. So the blood is diverted from the less important parts of the body to heart and brain. People may experience tiredness during their daily activities such as shopping, carrying small weights or climbing stairs.

 

Nausea which is lack of appetite is because of less flow of blood to the digestive organs, which affects digestion. People often feel their stomach always full or uncomfortable.

Increased heart rate here the heart starts to beat at much faster rate than normal to compensate the loss in pumping capacity.
Chest pain This pain will last for few minutes and goes away or it might be discontinuous.

Paleness or intense sweating People tend to sweat with or without having chest pain.

Causes of heart failure

 

The main causes of heart failure would be one of the following:

  • The main reason is because of the added stress on health conditions, which causes the heart to work faster than the normal condition, or will result in heart attack.

  • When cholesterol and some fatty acids (plague) gets deposited in the arteries of the heart (atherosclerosis), less blood reaches the heart muscle which in turn damages the heart muscle. Due to this the heart tissue, which are healthier, have to work more hard than required. The plague deposits in the arteries can narrow the arteries lessening the blood flow to heart muscles, completely block the arteries and the blood flow or causes blood clots to form the blockage. This condition leads to coronary artery disease (CAD). This disease is the underlying cause for heart attack.

  • Heat attacks can be even because of previous heart attacks also called as myocardial infarction. When the artery that supplies blood to the heart gets blocked, there will less supply of oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle tissue. Due to this some part of the tissue dies which in turn forces the healthy tissue to work harder.

  • Heart failure can occur repeatedly if the high blood pressure is uncontrollable in other words if a person is hypertensive. This happens when the pressure in the blood vessels is too high due to which the pumping of the heart increases to keep up the circulation of the blood through out the body.

  • Heart can fail due to abnormal heart valves. This may be due to disease, infection or even because of birth defects. Abnormal heart valves means that the valves do not close and open fully during each heartbeat due to which the heart muscles has to work harder. When the workload is too much for the heart it results in failure of the heart.

  • Defects during birth i.e. improper formation of heart and its chambers will make the healthy parts to work harder resulting in wear and tear of heart muscle and the healthy parts have to harder to keep up for it. This is the result of congenital heart disease.

  • Diabetes is one more important cause for heart failure. This is because people who have diabetes tend to gain excess weight and have high blood pressure, which will lead to extra strain of heart muscles.

  • Improper functioning of lungs also results in heart attack. The heart has to work harder to get the supply of oxygen to rest of the body.

  • Use of alcohol, drugs such as cocaine, exposure to cold, excess stress, cigarette smoking and viral infections will lead to damage of heart muscles. This leads to conditions such as dilated cardiomyopathy or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

  • Anemia or low RBC (Red Blood Cell) counts is the other reason for heart failure. When there is shortage of red blood cells to carry oxygen the heart moves the cells at a faster rate.

  • Several other reasons such as Hyperthyroidism i.e. an overactive thyroid gland and arrhythmia or dysrhythmia i.e. abnormal heart beats are the causes of heart attack.

  • Complications that occur due to bypass surgery, which is also called cardiac catheterization, will also cause heart failure.
    Blood clot which happens to be in some other part of the body other than heart would break and travel to the heart leading to heart failure. This condition is known as Coronary embolization.

  • Cuts, harsh blow or wound to the heart (Trauma) can cause heart attack.

  • Habits without regular daily exercise can also cause heart failure.

  • Heredity can also be one of the causes.

Remedies


Almost about quarter of the heart attacks come without any pre-indication or symptom. These kinds of heart attacks are called as ”silent heart attack” and more often seen in diabetic patients and can be examined only by using electrocardiogram (EKG) or any other test. Heart attacks are emergency cases wherein if the treatment is done promptly the chances of survival increases.

Incidence and prevalence


In the United States, heart attack is the leading cause of death. In adults, out of every five deaths one is due to heart attack. About 1.2 million heart attacks occur every year in the United States and 17 million die due to heart attacks every year through out the world. It is also estimated that by 2010, diseases related to heart will be the leading cause of death through out the world.

 

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Article Contributed By: Shilpa V
 

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