How Is a Heart Attack Treated?

Early treatment can prevent or limit damage to the heart muscle. Acting fast, at the first symptoms of heart attack, can save your life. Medical personnel can begin diagnosis and treatment even before you get to the hospital.

Certain treatments are usually started right away if a heart attack is suspected, even before the diagnosis is confirmed. These include:
     Oxygen
     Aspirin, to prevent further blood clotting 
     Nitroglycerin, to reduce the workload on the heart and improve blood flow through the                  coronary arteries
     Treatment for chest pain 

Once the diagnosis of heart attack is confirmed or strongly suspected, treatments to try to restore blood flow to the heart are started as soon as possible. Treatments include medicines and medical procedures.

1.Medicines 

   A number of different kinds of medicines may be used to treat heart attack. They include the       following. 

    Thrombolytic Medicines 

    These medicines (also called clot busters) are used to dissolve blood clots that are blocking the      coronary arteries. To be most effective, these medicines must be given within 1 hour after the      start of heart attack symptoms. 

     Beta Blockers

     These medicines decrease the workload on your heart. Beta blockers also are used to relieve         chest pain or discomfort and to help prevent additional heart attacks. Beta blockers also are         used to correct arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats). 

      Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors 

     These medicines lower blood pressure and reduce the strain on your heart. They also help             slow down further weakening of the heart muscle. 

       Anticoagulants 

       These medicines thin the blood and prevent clots from forming in your arteries. 

       Antiplatelet Medicines 

       These medicines (such as aspirin and clopidogrel) stop platelets (a type of blood cell) from              clumping together and forming unwanted clots. 

       Other Medicines

       Medicines may also be given to relieve pain and anxiety, and to treat arrhythmias, which              often occur during a heart attack.

Causes of Hypertension Heart Attacks

Heart disease has been more frequently found in certain persons who show peculiar personality physical and mental traits. It will therefore, be worthwhile to discuss these factors. Coronary heart disease is considered to have multiple causative factors i.e., no one single factor perhaps could be identified as one causing a heart attack.

Heredity: There is ample evidence to show that incidence of heart disease is more in persons whose direct predecessors like fathers, grandfathers, mothers, brothers have suffered from similar disease. Coronary artery disease is found to run mainly in families. A strong family history of the disease is important in diagnosis.

Stress: Heart disease has often been identified with certain personality patterns. It is labelled as personality disease or a high executive disease, that is, it strikes persons with a certain personality. A certain study has shown that there was four times as much coronary disease among aggressive type of individuals. 
In addition to this other factors such as family responsibilities, interpersonal relationship, financial worries, leisure interests, habits of eating drinking and smoking etc. may play a part that may effect one's heart.

Smoking: It has been found by some workers that death rate among those who had heart attack was 50-150 percent higher in those who were heavy cigarette smoker than non-smokers.

Physical Exercise: There is a fairly general trend towards encouraging regular physical effort of a kind suited to age and condition of the person concerned. As a preventive as well as a remedial measure exercise is of great importance. There is abundant evidence to suggest that a stressful sedentary life without much exercise provides a situation fraught with coronary danger. Death rate from coronary heart disease is lower among those who do strenuous physical work.
Even for patients, who have survived coronary attacks, there has lately been a change in the thinking in marked contrast in earlier ideas. The doctors are now a day advocating, after the initial prescribed rest, walking up the stairs, going on hikes, bicycles and other forms of exercise. The quantum of exercise in each case must of course be decided by the attending physician. 

Diet and obesity: Certain studies have shown 50 percent increase in heart attacks in employees who were over weight similarly diet and amount of fat are matter of vital importance in incidence of heart disease. The sound advice which could be given is to lead a life of moderation in matter of diet and activity an also to avoid obesity. Large fatty meals and strenuous exercise after them is not conducive to a healthy heart.

Saturated fats: are likely of animal origin like whole milk, cream, butter, cheese meat, fat, etc. They raise blood cholesterol level. And they are not included in proper heart attack diet. On the other hand unsaturated fats are of vegetable origin and they tend to lower blood cholesterol levels like maize oil, cottonseed oil sunflower oil and fat of fish.

Heart Attack Signs

It has been said earlier that any disturbance in the supply of blood to heart muscle leads to its functional impairment. There are also other heart attack symptoms which need to be observed on time to take required measures for heart attack prevention.

It will be useful to discuss symptoms of heart attacks, which may lead to disturbances in the supply of blood to heart muscles. Certain conditions increase the strains on the heart. Among these are lack of rest, over exertion or prolonged hard labor which create an excessive body demand for oxygen that the heart, muscle must supply through pumping more blood. If the blood vessels are inelastic on account of arteriosclerosis fibrous thickening or narrowing of passage (atherosclerosis) additional work on the part of the heart will be needed to push blood through these vessels. Other indirect factors that may result in causing disturbance in blood supply are indigestion of food, anger and other emotional excitements.

There are some early heart attack symptoms, which may be important to watch for. Their appearance calls for a visit to the doctor for a check up. The heart attack symptoms are:

1.Dizzy spell or fainting fits 

2.Discomfort following meals, especially if long continued.

 3.Shortness of breath, after slight exertion. 

4.Fatigue with out otherwise explained origin. 

5.Pain or tightness in the chest a common sign of coronary insufficiency is usually constrictive in nature and is located behind the chest bone with radiation into the arms or a sense of numbness or a severe pain in the center of the chest 

6.Palpitation

 These symptoms of heart attack should be observed minuetly and should be taken care of as and when required.

Introduction to Heart Disease

What is Heart Disease?

The term heart disease actually applies to a number of illnesses that affect the circulatory system, which consists of heart and blood vessels. It is intended to deal here only with the condition commonly called "Heart Attack" and the factors, which lead to such condition.

Heart attack is the popular term for sudden pain in chest with breathing difficulty arising out of certain heart conditions. Heart attacks can be suddenly fatal, but the great majority- an estimated 85 percent are not. The patient recovers under proper treatment and goes on to live many useful years.

Like all muscles and organs of the body, the heart also needs nourishment and food which it gets thorough its own arterial system. The arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle, may lead to impairment of its function. The sudden narrowing of the artery may result in the sudden stoppage of blood supply to the heart muscle. Such attacks of narrowing of arteries are called angina. If the damage takes place it is called infarction.

Infarction can also occur because of a blood clot, big enough to interfere with blood supply, is formed in the coronary artery. This formation of blood clot is called trombosis and the clot itself is known a thrombus. The term coronary heart disease is usually applied to diseases of the heart secondary to defective or interrupted supply of blood to the heart muscles through the coronary arteries.

Besides the sudden narrowing of coronary arteries such as in anginal attacks or thrombosis the blood supply to heart muscle could also be impaired by certain long term and (chronic) conditions like arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis.

Arteriosclerosis is a condition when certain arteries (may be all) start losing their elasticity and their walls, due to some unknown factors, become thickened and hardened. When this happens. Blood pressure inside the arteries tends to become high and which in its wake puts more stress and strain on heart.

Recent researches in connection with heart diseases have demonstrated a high correlation between fats in the diet, cholesterol level and atherosclerosis. Cholesterol is fat like substance found in animal fats, oils and some tissues of the human body.

Self-Care at Home

Short episodes of vomiting and small amounts of diarrhea lasting less than 24 hours can usually be cared for at home.

1.Do not eat solid food while nauseous or vomiting but drink plenty of fluids. 

   Small, frequent sips of clear liquids (those you can see through) are the best way to stay                hydrated. 

   Avoid alcoholic, caffeinated, or sugary drinks. Over-the-counter rehydration products made        for children such as Pedialyte and Rehydralyte are expensive but good to use if available. 

   Sports drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade are fine for adults if they are diluted with water    because at full strength they contain too much sugar, which can worsen diarrhea.

2.After successfully tolerating fluids, eating should begin slowly, when nausea and vomiting have    stopped. Plain foods that are easy on the stomach should be started in small amounts. Consider    eating rice, wheat, breads, potatoes, low-sugar cereals, lean meats, and chicken (not fried) to        start. Milk can be given safely, although some people may experience additional stomach upset   due to lactose intolerance. 

3.Most food poisonings do not require the use of over-the-counter medicines to stop diarrhea,        but they are generally safe if used as directed. It is not recommended that these medications      be given to children. If there is a question or concern, you should always check with a doctor.

Prevention

Safe steps in food handling, cooking, and storage are essential to avoiding food-borne illness. Bacteria cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted, which may be on any food.

Follow the CDC food safety guidelines to keep contaminants away.

1.Safe shopping 

  Buy cold foods last during your shopping trip. Get them home fast. 
  Never choose torn or leaking packages. 
  Do not buy foods past their "sell-by" or expiration dates. 
  Keep raw meat and poultry separate from other foods. 

2.Safe storage of foods 

    Keep it safe; refrigerate. 
    Unload perishable foods first and immediately refrigerate them. Place raw meat, poultry, or         fish in the coldest section of your refrigerator. 
    Check the temperature of your appliances. To slow bacterial growth, the refrigerator should         be  at 40°F, the freezer at 0°F. 
    Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within two days.

Food Poisoning Symptoms

Symptoms of food poisoning depend on the type of contaminant and the amount eaten. The symptoms can develop rapidly, within 30 minutes, or slowly, worsening over days to weeks. Most of the common contaminants cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping. Usually food poisoning is not serious, and the illness runs its course in 24-48 hours. 

Viruses account for most food poisoning cases where a specific contaminant is found.

Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause a mild illness (often termed "stomach flu") with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, and low-grade fever. These symptoms usually resolve in two to three days. It is the most common viral cause of adult food poisoning and is transmitted from water, shellfish, and vegetables contaminated by feces, as well as from person to person. Outbreaks are more common in densely populated areas such as nursing homes, schools and cruise ships (hence why the virus is also known as the "Cruise Ship Illness"). The term norovirus has been approved as the official name for this group of viruses. Several other names have been used for noroviruses, including Norwalk-like viruses, caliciviruses (because they belong to the virus family Caliciviridae), and small round structured viruses.


Rotavirus: Causes moderate to severe illness with vomiting followed by watery diarrhea and fever. It is the most common cause of food poisoning in infants and children and is transmitted from person to person by fecal contamination of food and shared play areas.


Hepatitis A: Causes mild illness with sudden onset of fever, loss of appetite, and feeling of tiredness followed by jaundice, which is a yellowing of the eyes and skin. It is transmitted from person to person by fecal contamination of food.

Food Poisoning Causes

More than 250 known diseases can be transmitted through food. The CDC estimates unknown or undiscovered agents cause 81% of all food-borne illnesses and related hospitalizations. Many cases of food poisoning are not reported because people suffer mild symptoms and recover quickly. Also, doctors do not test for a cause in every suspected case because it does not change the treatment or the outcome.

1.The known causes of food poisoning can be divided into two categories: infectious agents and        toxic agents. 

2.Infectious agents include viruses, bacteria, and parasites. 

3. Toxic agents include poisonous mushrooms, improperly prepared exotic foods (such as                   barracuda), or pesticides on fruits and vegetables.

4.Food usually becomes contaminated from poor sanitation or preparation. Food handlers who      do not wash their hands after using the bathroom or have infections themselves often cause        contamination. Improperly packaged food stored at the wrong temperature also promotes            contamination.

Food Poisoning Overview

Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but sometimes deadly illness. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea that occur suddenly (within 48 hours) after consuming a contaminated food or drink. Depending on the contaminant, fever and chills, bloody stools, dehydration, and nervous system damage may follow. These symptoms may affect one person or a group of people who ate the same thing (called an outbreak).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in the United States, food poisoning causes about 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and up to 5,000 deaths each year. One of the most common bacterial forms of infection, the salmonellae organisms, account for $1 billion in medical costs and lost work time.

Worldwide, diarrheal illnesses are among the leading causes of death. Travelers to developing countries often encounter food poisoning in the form of traveler's diarrhea or "Montezuma’s revenge." Additionally, there are possible new global threats to the world's food supply through terrorist actions using food toxins as weapons.