Heart Attack

Hawler medical university
College of health sciences
Department of Clinical Biochemistry
heart attack
supervised by
Prof. Kafia M. Shareef
heart attack
• A heart attack occurs when there is a sudden,
complete blockage of a coronary artery that
supplies blood to an area of the heart. As a
result, some of the heart muscle begins to die.
Without early medical treatment this damage can
be permanent.
What causes a heart attack?
• The heart is a muscular pump that needs a continuous
supply of oxygen. It gets this oxygen from the blood,
which flows to the heart muscle through arteries on the
heart's surface. These arteries are called the coronary
arteries.
The most common cause of heart attack is coronary heart
disease (CHD) - the slow build-up of fatty deposits on the
• inner wall of the arteries that supply the heart muscle with
blood. These fatty deposits, called plaque, gradually clog
the inside channel of the arteries causing them to narrow.
It is a process that begins early in life and
Signs and Symptoms
Heart attack symptoms vary. Not all heart attacks begin with a
sudden, crushing pain that is often shown on TV or in the movies. The
warning signs and symptoms of a heart attack aren’t the same for
everyone. Many heart attacks start slowly as mild pain or discomfort.
Some people don’t have symptoms at all (this is called a silent heart
attack).The symptoms usually last for at least 10 minutes and you
may experience more than one of the heart attack symptoms below.
Signs and Symptoms
• Pain in the chest
• The most common symptom of heart attack is chest pain
or discomfort. The pain sometimes starts slowly, or may
come on suddenly, or develop over a few minutes. Most
heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the
chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away
and comes back. It may feel like tightness, pressure,
heaviness, fullness, or squeezing. The feeling has been
described as: 'like a steel band tightening around my
chest', 'like an elephant sitting on my chest' or 'like a
red hot poker in the centre of my chest'. The pain can
range from severe, to moderate or even mild. Heart
attack
Pain spreading
The chest discomfort may spread to the neck and throat,
jaw, shoulders, the back, either or both arms and even into
the wrists and hands.
Discomfort in the upper body

Some people do not get any chest pain -only discomfort in
parts of the upper body. There may be a choking feeling in
the throat. The arms may feel 'heavy' or 'useless'.
•
Other symptoms
Often there may also be difficulty breathing, nausea or
vomiting, a cold sweat or a feeling of being dizzy or light-
headed.
Treatment
Each minute after a heart attack, more heart tissue is
damaged or dies. Urgent treatment is needed to fix blood flow
and restore oxygen levels. Oxygen is given immediately.
Specific heart attack treatment depends on whether there's a
partial or complete blockage of blood flow.
Diagnosis
Ideally, a health care provider should screen you during regular
checkups for risk factors that can lead to a heart attack.
A heart attack is often diagnosed in an emergency setting. If
you've had or are having a heart attack, care providers will
take immediate steps to treat your condition. If you're able to
answer questions, you may be asked about your symptoms and
medical history.
Preparing for your appointment
A heart attack usually is diagnosed in an emergency setting.
However, if you're concerned about your risk of a heart
attack, talk to your care provider. A cardiovascular risk
assessment can be done to determine your level of risk.
• Heart Attack Recovery
• Modern treatments, along with healthy lifestyle choices, can assist in
recovering from a heart attack and greatly reduce the risk of further
heart problems and relieve or control symptoms such as angina.
• The most important things you can do to reduce your risk and aid heart
attack recovery are:
• Take medications as prescribed by a doctor
Be smoke free
• Enjoy healthy eating
• Be physically active
Control blood
pressure
• Achieve and maintain
a healthy body
weight
• If the person affected has diabetes, they should also aim to keep their
blood glucose levels within the normal non-diabetic range.
Bibliography
• Heart Foundation Australia. (no date). Heart Attack
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/Heart_Information/Adult_Conditions/Heart_Attack.htm?gclid=CP2lje
_a
• Retrieved – August 16th
• National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. (March 2008). What is a Heart Attack?.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/HeartAttack/HeartAttack_WhatIs.ht
ml
• Retrieved - August 16th
• American Heart Association. (2008). Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest Warning
Signs. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053
• Medicine Net.com. (2008). Heart Attack.

http://www.medicinenet.com/heart_attack/article.htm .
• Cardiology Channel. (2008). Heart Attack.

http://www.cardiologychannel.com/heartattack/index.shtml

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Hawler medical university

College of health sciences

Department of Clinical Biochemistry

Discomfort in the upper body

• Retrieved – August 16th

• Medicine Net.com. (2008). Heart Attack.

• Cardiology Channel. (2008). Heart Attack.

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