Learn how heart attack occurs

We all know that the main job of our heart is to pump blood. It is like a water pump whose job is to pump water to various tanks. But like the pipe of the water pump, our heart pipes (arteries) also can get clogged, causing problem in the flow of blood to the body. Knowing your heart and how it functions will help you take care and avoid such problem. More than 2,000 Americans die of heart disease every day. The good part is new techniques and advancement in medical science has helped many people survive from this ailment. 

 Architecture of your Heart.

 The heart has four partitions

 1. Right Atrium (RA).

2. Right Ventricle (RV).

3. Left Atrium (LA).

4. Left Ventricle (LV).

 Each partition has a one way valve which lets blood flow in one direction only. What the heart beats (systole), the blood is pushed out of the heart. Then the heart pulls blood in (diastole). This action continues throughout  your life cycle. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs where oxygen is collected passed back to the heart and this is then circulated throughout the body. This process helps to supply oxygen to all the parts of the body.

 Pulse Rate

 Pulse rate is calculated per minutes and will vary from age to age.

 Infant              130

1 years            120

3 years            100

6 years             100

8 years              90

12 years           85

Adult                 60 to 100

 Hearts Electric system.

 Would you want to know how the heart beats? How does it manages to beat every second, minute and day after day?

 It’s because of a special type of cells that are capable of generating electric pulse on their own. These cells spread all over the heart which produces electric signals in the pacemaker cells of the heart. This helps the heart to contract. These electric cells are responsible to create the right rhythm so that your heart pumps blood in a synchronized way. This pacemaker is called Sinatral node (SA node). Its located in the RA. In some patients these cells are damaged or not able to function. An artificial pacemaker is fitted in the body to perform this task.

 An average heart pumps 7,200 liters of blood per day.  Do your calculation as to how much it work out for a year and lifetime. You will be amazed with the number.

How to Manage Heart Attack

Know your Heart & conditions causing heart attack

Heart attack is a condition in which the heart stops functioning causing the blood flow to stop. The blood is responsible to supply oxygen to various parts of our body. Heart failure will stop this flow and eventually a person dies. Knowing your heart and awareness can save your life or the life of your dear ones. 

The flow of blood to the heart is blocked due to narrowing of the arteries. The following symptoms can alert you if you are facing from a heart problem or going to experiance a heart attack. The person experiencing these sysmptoms will need immediate medical attention, delay in getting treatment may even cause death of the patient.

Symptoms of a Heart Attack

Tightness/Crushing feeling.

Pressure or squeezing feeling.

Constriction.

Breathlessness.

Cold sweating.

Occasionally vomiting due to severe pain.

Sometimes patient may become unconscious.

Fuctions of the Heart

The heart lies in the center and a little bit towards the left of the chest called mediastinum. The heart is about the size of a fist and weights less than a pound. It is made out of muscles called myocardium. Its hallow and is divided into left and right side. Each side has 2 chambers. The one above is called atrium and below the ventricle. The right side of the heart supplies blood to the lungs, while the left supplies blood to the rest of the body.

Coronary Arteries

Coronary arteries are responsible to take blood from heart to the rest of the body. These are line pipes with special linnings inside to help easy flow. Cholesterol, smoking, high blood presure  can damage these inner linnings

Heart Attack

Heart stops functioning when the cornary arteries is blocked and there is no supply of blood to that portion of the heart, this kills the cells of that part of the  heart causing heart attack.

What is Angina?

Angina is a coronary artery disease.  During exersion, excercise or stress, the heart needs to beats faster. This increase in beats pushes blood faster and more rapidly through the arteries. Narrowing of arteries will prevent suffient blood from reaching the heart causing a pain called 'angina'. This is the hearts way of telling you to stop the exersion and take rest. This pain can move upwards to the upper body, left arm, jaw or upper back. This pain usally last for less than 5 min.  This condition is permanant and do not result in damage to heart cells.

Causes of Angina

Following can contribute to Angina.

1. Smoking

2. Excess weight

3. Family history of this ailment.

4. Bad eating habbits. Eating too much of red meat, dairy products, oily and spicy food.

Medical Examination.

Diagnosis of angina can be made based on your medical history and certian lab tests. This can involve ECG, Chest X-ray, LDL and HDL test etc. On good way to detect this condition is to do stress electrocardiogram. During this test the patient is asked to walk on the treadmill or bicycle to simulate a exersion scenarion. While the patient walks on the treadmill, this heart condition is monitors and calculated based on the waves bounce off the heart' wall and valves. An echo cardiogram is done before and after the test to determine which part of the heart is not receiving sufficient blood.

Cure for Angina

Basic Cure

1. Stop smoking

2. Switch to healthy food. Eat more of vegitable and fruits avoid the above food.

3. If over weight, reduce your weight. This way the heart does not have to pump harder as it has small body area to cover.

4. Excercise - Consult your doctor on the type or excersice you should do. This depends on the severity of your problem.

5. Reduce stress

6. Meditation and yoga.

7. Medicines  as prescribed by your doctor.

Advance cure for heart problem include

1. Ballon Angioplasty

2. Coronary Artery Bypass

3. Robotic heart surgery

4. Stem cell therapy (not very popular)

First Aid for Heart attack

1. As soon as the symtoms show the sign of an heart attack. The patient must be made comfortable.

2. Place the patient in a straight lying position.

3. Loosen out any tight clothing (Shirt button, tie, belt, shoes etc)

4. If breathing has stopped. Start mouth to mouth breating.

5. Call for medical help immediately.