Heart attack
Thursday, 24. November 2011 - 8:57 pm
Heart attack is a life-threatening event caused by a sudden, complete blockage of a coronary vessel. Fast action is crucial in acute myocardial infarction: Because closes one of the 3 major coronary vessels (coronary arteries), is supplied part of the heart muscle with oxygen and nutrients no longer. If we fail to open the jar to within a few hours later, the muscle tissue dies, cut off the blood supply. The affected tissue is called a myocardial infarction. The larger the occluded vessel, the larger the infarct.
The risk of sudden cardiac death is acute myocardial infarction due to a possible serious cardiac arrhythmia (ventricular fibrillation) is particularly high. It can also be affected as badly at a major heart attack the heart pumping, that the cycle breaks down more or less, then one speaks of cardiogenic shock. Therefore, it is true, even for a suspected heart attack, no time to lose and to immediately call an ambulance!
Each year about 300,000 people in Germany suffer a heart attack – died almost every other person concerned, before he reached the hospital. The heart attack is thus the cause of death in this country at the very front, where the mortality is higher in women than in men. Although women are protected in young and middle age by estrogens (female sex hormones) in front of a heart attack is relatively good, but after menopause increases the incidence of myocardial infarction with them. Moreover, as occur in women more often uncharacteristic infarction symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, the symptoms are often interpreted until late correctly, the risk of death increases accordingly.
Many heart attacks occur in the morning hours. One possible explanation is that at daybreak the levels of various cardiovascular active hormones in the blood rises, so also blood pressure and heart rate are higher.