A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, may happen when the blood supply to the heart is significantly impeded or blocked. The accumulation of fat, cholesterol and other substances in the heart’s arteries typically causes the obstruction.
Plaques are the fatty cholesterol-containing-deposits in the heart, blocking the blood supply. A plaque may occasionally burst and generate a clot that restricts blood flow. A lack of blood flow can harm or destroy part of the heart muscle.
What are heart attack symptoms?
Heart attack symptoms can vary. Mild symptoms are present in some people, while others display more advanced signs. On the other hand, some individuals may show no symptoms at all.
Typical heart attack symptoms include:
- Chest discomfort because most heart attacks are characterized by chest pain on the left or center sides that lasts more than a few minutes or fades and reappears. The discomfort may feel like painful pressure, squeezing, fullness, or other unpleasant sensations.
- Cold sweat
- Fatigue
- Acid reflux or indigestion
- Unexpected dizziness or lightheadedness
- Nausea
- Breathing difficulty
Heart attacks can happen suddenly. However, many people have warning symptoms and indications hours, days, or even weeks in advance. An early warning sign is persistent chest pressure or pain that doesn’t go away with rest. A brief Angina can be because of the reduced amount of blood flowing to the heart.
What are the risk factors for heart attack?
Your risk of heart disease and heart attack can be increased by several medical issues, your lifestyle, your age, and your family history. High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking are the three main risk factors for heart disease that affect around half of all Americans.
You cannot control some risk factors, such as age or family history. But you can reduce risk by altering the variables under your control, such as your lifestyle and overall diet.
How to recover from a heart attack?
Your heart can be damaged if you’ve suffered a heart attack. This may impact the rhythm of your heart and its capacity to pump blood throughout your body. Additionally, you could be in danger of having another heart attack or developing ailments like peripheral arterial disease, kidney problems, or stroke.
Following a heart attack, you can lessen your risk of developing further health issues by doing the following actions:
- Discuss your daily activities at work and in your personal life with your healthcare providers. After a heart attack, your doctor could advise you to take a break from work, travel, or sexual activity.
- Along with taking prescription medications, changing your diet, increasing your physical activity, quitting smoking, and managing your stress can help you live a healthier, more fulfilling life. To assist you in making these lifestyle changes, inquire about participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program with your medical team.
- Cardiac rehabilitation is a crucial therapy for anyone recovering from a heart attack, heart failure, or another heart condition requiring surgery or medical attention.
How long will it take to recover from my heart attack?
Discuss your recuperation time with a medical team member. Recovery periods and complications after heart attacks can vary. The therapy time will rely on the extent, location, and magnitude of the damage.
Scar tissue may develop in the damaged area and is less capable of pumping than healthy muscular tissue. Therefore, the degree of heart muscle injury may impact how efficiently the heart pumps blood throughout the body.
The size and location of the scar tissue will determine how much of the pumping function is lost. Most heart attack survivors have some form of coronary artery disease (CAD), which means they will need to adjust their lifestyles significantly and may need to take medication to avoid another heart attack. You can live a happy life by following these guidelines.