When your coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked by a blood clot, your heart no longer receives enough blood, nutrients, or oxygen. As this happens, you are very likely to end up with a heart attack because of a condition called atherosclerosis.
What is a heart attack?
Also known as a myocardial infarction, a heart attack is a form of acute coronary syndrome, caused by arteries that too are narrow or permanently blocked, thus preventing blood, oxygen, and nutrients from reaching the heart.
Heart attacks are divided into three main categories.
- STEMI, which stands for ST segment elevation myocardial infarction
- NSTEMI, short for non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction
- Unstable angina, which signals a coronary spasm
Out of these three categories, only STEMI and NSTEMI are considered major heart attacks. What do you need to know about these kinds of heart attacks?
1. STEMI
Angina as cause of a STEMI may occur alone, but it can also be accompanied by shortness of breath, cold sweat, or nausea. Some people experience anxiety when these symptoms occur. When you experience chest pain with or without any of the other symptoms, call for emergency help immediately. These might be signs of a heart attack, so it’s important not to postpone getting help. If you’ve never experienced this kind of pain before, you should consult a doctor right away. Not all angina is a sign of a heart attack, but it’s best not to take that chance.
People who have this heart attack have a very specific pattern that shows up on their EKG test. The fastest life-saving solution is urgent revascularization, which can consists of drugs such as thrombolytics, or by performing an emergency angioplasty.
This angioplasty is an invasive procedure which implies inserting a catheter to the groin and either sucking out the clot of widening the arteries by inflating a balloon. In order to keep the arteries open, the doctor may choose to permanently insert a stent, which is a small metal mesh tube.
2. NSTEMI
People that have a NSTEMI have a protein called troponin in their blood, which is a sign of heart muscle damage. In general, NSTEMI treatment is mostly medical, but doctors will perform a close evaluation of the current status of the coronary arteries. Depending on what they find, they may decide that their patient needs a cardiac bypass surgery or angioplasty with or without stent placement.
3. Coronary artery spasm
A coronary spasm occurs when one of your coronary artery muscles contract so much that it temporarily causes a blood flow blockage in the vessel. The most common symptom of a coronary artery spasm is chest pain, but it takes blood tests or imaging tests for the doctors to determine if you’ve experienced a silent heart attack.
Coronary artery spasm doesn’t generally produce permanent damage, but there are situations where they could be fatal. However, it’s important to note that people who have experienced this sort of silent heart attack are very likely to have a more serious and life-threatening one in the future.
Types of treatment for heart attacks
When people end up in the emergency room because of a heart attack, doctors will immediately treat them with oxygen, medication to relieve the chest pain (nitroglycerin is a common choice), as well as aspiring (because it acts as a blood thinner). When the doctor confirms that you’ve indeed had a heart attack, they will establish a treatment plan which will include prescription medication.
People who experience a mild heart attack will be given medication after the doctor has assessed their overall health status, as well as other risk factors. Typically, these prescription drugs include.
- Medication to dissolve the blood clots that are clogging the coronary arteries.
- Medication that helps lower blood pressure, as this is a major risk factor for heart disease and a potential trigger for a heart attack.
- Blood thinners (such as aspirin), to prevent future blood clot formations.
- Cholesterol-lowering medication.
People who experienced a severe heart attack will most likely require medical intervention. This can be either of the following.
- A coronary artery bypass intervention is an open-heart surgery that implies the extraction of a healthy vessels and using it to reroute the blood past the blockage.
- Coronary angioplasty, which implies pushing the walls of the narrow arteries further apart. This procedure could imply a permanent stent placement in the problematic area of the artery.
Conclusion
After receiving medical treatment for heart attacks, follow up appointments with your doctor are just as important. Not only does this help you and your doctor keep track of your progress, but they can also adjust your medication accordingly. Also, make sure that you avoid the risk factors that lead to a heart attack as much as possible. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, illicit drugs, the lack of physical activity, or too much stress.
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