Year after year, more or less 350,000 people in the US lose their lives due to heart disease. A huge share in this number is contributed by heart attack – the most common and deadliest disease for the heart. If you happen to be often staying with a person at risk of heart attack, here are some important things you can take note of in order to get yourself prepared enough just in case such between-life-and-death emergency calls.
Heart Attack Basic Description
In its most basic essence, heart attack is a disease commonly caused by ventricular fibrillation, which is a condition manifested by a disturbance in the heart’s electrical rhythm. The heart muscle must be consistently supplied by oxygenated blood to sustain its normal function. Otherwise, it would eventually decay and the entire blood circulation processes in the body will get disturbed. Heart attack occurs once the heart muscle gets permanently damaged. In medical terms, this heart disease is also referred to as myocardial infarction because of the death of tissues in the heart muscle resulted by lack of oxygen-rich blood supply.
Common Heart Attack Symptoms
Most people at risk of heart attack suffer from pain, discomfort, or numbness of the jaw, throat, arm, chest, back, and lower portion of the breastbone. They are also likely to feel unusual indigestion, fullness, nausea, vomiting, choking feeling, dizziness, and/or sweating. Other than that, heart attack sufferers could also experience shortness of breath, body weakness, and anxiety at extreme degree. For severe cases, someone who is at risk of heart attack gets troubled by rapid or irregular heart rhythm due to the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation. This could be compensated through defibrillation or the application of the appropriate amount of electrical shock to the heart.
How Could a Heart Attack Sufferer Get Treated
Just like the advice to other health problems, proper diet and regular exercise are essential steps to treat heart attack or at least prevent its worsening. Ideal foods are those free or with low levels of fat and oil. Food that are rich in fiber and omega-3 oil are among the most recommended by health experts for those who are at risk of heart attack and other types of heart disease. Meanwhile, getting into physical fitness activities regularly is generally a good way to get rid of the accumulated fat in the body that hinder smooth flow of blood to and from the heart. As prescribed by your doctor and fitness coach, go for exercise routines that intend to strengthen the heart and rejuvenate it after being affected by heart attack.
What to Do When a Person Gets Heart Attack Seizure
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends any immediate responder to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to anyone having seizure due to heart attack or any other deadly heart disease. If you are not knowledgeable and if possible, ask help from a medical practitioner or bring the patient to a nearby healthcare facility so that he/she could receive immediate CPR. In addition, you can also go for a CPR training course from a certified CPR training center if you want to learn more about this first aid practice.
