HOW TO RECOGNISE A HEART ATTACK Unhealthy lifestyles combined with a ton of stress are making more and more

people vulnerable to heart attacks. Heres a low-down on signs and symptoms of a heart attack. Often people expect a heart attack to be dramatic like it is in the movies. But in reality most often that is not the case. This article thus spells out the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. What happens during a heart attack? During a heart attack, the blood flow to the heart muscle is either reduced or completely stops. This typically happens because of a blood clot that is blocking an artery. When the heart muscle does not get oxygen-rich blood, it ceases to work. Some common heart attack symptoms: A heart attack often causes chest pain. There is a feeling of fullness or a clasping pain in the centre of the chest. Most victims describe the pain as akin to an elephant standing on the chest (extreme pain). It usually lasts for about 15 minutes. One also experiences shooting pain in the shoulders, neck, arm, back and sometimes even the teeth and jaw. One finds increasing episodes of chest pain. Prolonged pain in the upper abdomen. Shortness of breath. The victim might experience heavy sweating. Since the hearts pumping action is severely impaired during a severe heart attack, the victim might lose his/her consciousness. Nausea and vomiting In rare cases, as in patients who are diabetic, the heart attack may not be very painful, and sometimes can even be entirely painless. Other heart attack symptoms The elderly, diabetics, people on steroids as well as women are less likely to have obvious symptoms like severe chest pain (as often seen in men). These are some symptoms they are likely to have: Pain in the abdomen Heart burn Sweaty skin Unusual tiredness Dizziness or light-headedness Nausea Tightness or pain in the neck, shoulder or upper back Heart attack symptoms are not the same for all Not everyone who has a heart attack has the same symptoms. Many a time, we also tend to ignore a heart attack thinking it might be mere abdominal discomfort due to gas pains or indigestion. If you have more than a few symptoms listed above, then you are likely to be having an attack. Get emergency help immediately. What to do in case of a heart attack? Rush to a hospital: If you recognise that you or someone around is having a heart attack, get immediate medical help. Give Disprin (Asprin): As soon as you recognise it is an attack, crush a disprin, dissolve it in water and make the person drink it. Emergency numbers: Every office and home must keep a list of emergency numbers like that of an ambulance service, hospital. A heart attack is different from a cardiac arrest Do not confuse a heart attack with cardiac arrest. In the case of a cardiac arrest, the heart suddenly stops. It occurs due to an electrical disturbance that obstructs the hearts pumping function, which results in stopping blood flow to the rest of the body.

HEART ATTACK IN YOUNG AND MIDDLE-AGED INDIANS

Indians have one of the highest rates of coronary artery disease in the world. Indians also tend to get heart disease 5-10 years earlier. What is a heart attack? A heart attack, known as a myocardial infarction in medical terms, occurs when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to a coronary artery. Coronary arteries are blood vessels, which supply blood to the heart muscle. This interruption of blood flow to the muscular wall of the heart causes that part of the wall to become damaged and destroyed and stop pumping blood. Why Indians are at a higher risk Indians have one of the highest rates of coronary artery disease in the world. This rate is thrice that of a Caucasian living in the US. As a result, Indians get coronary artery disease 5-10 years earlier than Caucasians and the disease is typically more aggressive. This results in Indians between the age group of 35-65 being the most affected, thus presenting a major strain on the productive workforce as the younger working population is the one at risk. Another significant reason that renders us Indians vulnerable is the fact that we have narrower arteries than our Western counterparts. Various factors that contribute to higher rate of heart attacks include: Urbanization of rural areas Large-scale migration of rural population to urban areas Increase in sedentary lifestyle due to hectic work schedules Abdominal obesity (belly fat) Metabolic syndrome Diabetes and high blood pressure Inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables Increased use of fried, processed and junk food, owing to the fast food culture Increase in tobacco usage Poor awareness and control of coronary artery disease risk factors Low HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol levels) Genetic predisposition Indians will require specific lower cut-offs and stricter goals for treatment of various risk factors than is currently recommended for western populations, one example of this being practiced is: The upper limit forBMI (body mass index) that decides whether an individual is considered obese has been lowered from 25 to 23 for Asians, as they are at a higher risk of obesity and cardiopulmonary arrests at marginally high body mass indexes. A strategy involving prevention of cardiovascular diseases long before their onset will be more cost-effective than providing interventions at a stage when the disease has already set in.