What is a Heart Attack
A heart attack (myocardial infarction or MI) is a serious medical emergency in which the supply of blood to the heart is suddenly blocked, usually by a blood clot.
A heart attack is a medical emergency.
A lack of blood to the heart may seriously damage the heart muscle and can be life-threatening.
Symptoms of a heart attack
Symptoms of a heart attack can include:
- chest pain – the chest can feel like it's being pressed or squeezed by a heavy object, and pain can radiate from the chest to the jaw, neck, arms and back
- shortness of breath
- feeling weak and/or lightheaded
- overwhelming feeling of anxiety
It's important to stress that not everyone experiences severe chest pain; the pain can often be mild and mistaken for indigestion.
It's the combination of symptoms that's important in determining whether a person is having a heart attack, and not the severity of chest pain.
Treating heart attacks
While waiting for an ambulance, it may help to chew and then swallow a tablet of aspirin (ideally 300mg) – as long as the person having a heart attack isn't allergic to aspirin.
The aspirin helps to thin the blood and reduce the risk of a heart attack.
In hospital, treatment for a heart attack depends on how serious it is. The two main treatments are:
- using medication to dissolve blood clots
- surgery to help restore blood to the heart
Causes of a heart attack
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of heart attacks.
CHD is a condition in which the major blood vessels that supply the heart get clogged up with deposits of cholesterol, known as plaques.
Before a heart attack, one of the plaques ruptures (bursts), causing a blood clot to develop at the site of the rupture. The clot may block the supply of blood to the heart, triggering a heart attack.
Recovering from a heart attack
The time it takes to recover from a heart attack will depend on the amount of damage to the heart muscle. Some people are well enough to return to work after two weeks. Other people may take several months to recover.
The recovery process aims to:
reduce your risk of another heart attack – through a combination of lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet, and medications, such as statins (which help lower blood cholesterol levels)
gradually restore your physical fitness – so you can resume normal activities (known as cardiac rehabilitation)
Most people can return to work after having a heart attack, but how quickly depends on your health, the state of your heart and the type of work you do.
