Myocardial Infarction Essays - Aging-associated Diseases, RTT

Myocardial Infarction MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION When someone has a myocardial infarction (MI) people think a cold, right? Well its not, its a heart attack! Its the number one cause of death in the United States and kills about 330,000 Americans each year. People dont realize how big the effect of a heart attack is until they experience their own. By then it is to late! Here are some information explaining the causes, symptoms, and the solution of a heart attack that will help you, your family, and friends. Heart attacks are a coronary heart disease and a form of a cardiovascular disease. Myocardial infarction is caused by a clot formation or spasms in the arteries that supply the blood (a coronary artery). Other conditions of myocardial infarctions are blockage of oxygen supply to the area of the heart, which leads the damage and dead cells of the heart. A related disease that occurs in the coronary arteries is Atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the damaged tissues of the coronary arteries that lose the contraction of the heart muscles. A heart attack can cause a person to have a cardiac arrest (a type of rapid continuous irregular heartbeat), which causes the heart to not pump blood to the body parts in need of oxygen. Another fatal cause is ventricular fibrillation. This is your last breathe within the first few hours of the heart attack. All these conditions are related by affecting your heart. It simply says, It is a death of the heart muscle. When a family member feels that they are getting chest pain (angina), bad indigestion, and shortness of breath those are symptom of a heart attack. Symptoms of a heart attack are uncomfortable pressure, squeezing or pain in the center of your chest. These feelings may spread to the shoulders, neck and arms, and may be mild to intense. Anxiety, nervousness, cold sweaty skin, paleness, or a pallor look, and increased or irregular heart rate may follow shortly after. In the event of no breathing ask someone to call 911 and begin CPR immediately. These symptoms may help warn people in the future. The solution of a heart attack is to immediately go to the emergency room and admit them fast! A special machine called an ECG (electrocardiogram) monitors the tracing of the heart. They stick IV for medications and fluids to help the pain. The outcome determines the amount and location of the damaged area. Several surgeries are bypass (coronary artery bypass or a CABG), angioplasty, and a coronary placement (PTCA or percutaneous coronary angioplasty), but rarely a heart transplantation surgery is needed. The prevention of a heart attack is to eat right, exercise, control blood pressure, maintain cholesterol levels, stop smoking and less stress can help. Asking a physician may help a person get back to a normal lifestyle. Myocardial infarction is a serious disease that cant be taken lightly. This information will help people alike to take care of their body. And some hope you wont be added to the 330,000 that are killed by a heart attack. Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY Family Doctor: Heart Attacks. Available: http://familydoctor.org/handouts/217.html Foqoros, R. Heart Attacks. [Online] Available: http://www.heartdisease.about.com/cs/heartattacks/ Heart Attack: [Online] Available: http://www.bu.edu/cohis/cardvasc/heart/mi.htm Heart Information Network: Heart Attack Guide. [Online] Available: http://www.heartinfo.org/news/htattksymp012299.htm Marshall Brains, how stuff works: How Heart Attacks and Angina Works. [Online] Available: http://www.howstuffworks.com/heart-attack.htm Web MD Health: Myocardial Infarction. [Online] Available: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.51380 Medicine Essays