Heart Attack
A heart attack is sometimes referred to as a myocardial infarction (MI), acute myocardial infarction, coronary occlusion or coronary thrombosis.
A heart attack occurs when there is a sudden, complete blockage of an 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 obtains 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 underlying 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 and narrow the inside channel of the arteries. It is a process that begins early in life and continues over the years.
A heart attack usually begins when an area of plaque cracks. Blood cells and other components of the blood stick over the damaged area and form a clot that suddenly and completely blocks the blood flow to the heart muscle. If the artery remains blocked, the lack of blood permanently damages the area of heart muscle supplied by that artery.
Heart attack symptoms
Heart attack symptoms vary. The symptoms usually last for at least 10 minutes and you may experience more than one of the heart attack symptoms below.
- Pain in the chest
A heart attack usually causes discomfort or pain in the centre of the chest. The pain may come on suddenly, or sometimes starts slowly, developing over minutes. 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 may be severe, moderate or even mild.
- 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.