How Prone are you to Heart Attack?

By Dr. S.C. Srivastava

Would you like to be the raw material for doctors to process or a guinea pig for research works of medical science?

If not, then you have to maintain your normal health and avoid contracting diseases.As the saying goes "Prevention is better than cure", if we take care, we can prevent ourselves from many fatal diseases. Coronary heart disease is one of them.

Muscles of the heart always need fresh or oxygenated blood. The oxygen and glucose are essential for the energy required for normal function of the heart. The blood with fresh oxygen and glucose reaches the muscles of the heart through the coronary arteries, which are very narrow.

If the lumen of the artery becomes narrow for any reason, it diminishes the amount of blood flowing into the heart muscles and this results in malfunction of the heart. This condition of the heart causes chest pain, heaviness in heart, perspiration and palpitation.

If the amount of blood supplied to the heart is very low, it causes death of heart muscles and finally, heart attack. About 30-40% of the patients feel suffocation before and after the attack. Normally our heart beats 70-80 times per minute. But during heart attack, it increases to nearly 200 per minute or more.

The Main Causes of Heart Attack

Smoking : Ninety percent of heart patients are found to be heavy smokers. Persons with smoking habit are 200% more prone to heart diseases, specially coronary heart disease. Smoking results in the coronary artery becoming harder and narrower. It also causes atherosclerosis due to some chemical substances being present in the smoke. The atherosclerosis causes decrease in elasticity of the tissues and hence the internal wall of the artery becomes harder and narrower.

Fats : Increased amount of fat in the blood also causes heart attack. Harmful fats like cholesterol and trigliceride, in increased level, unite with polluted substances of the blood and deposit it in the inner wall of the coronary artery which finally causes narrowness and hardness of the artery.

Investigation

If a person is suspected to be suffering from coronary heart disease, he or she has to go through some laboratory investigations for confirmation.

First of all, blood pressure is measured with the help of a simple instrument known as "spnegnomenometre". By regular check up of blood pressure, symptoms can be detected earlier which will go a long way in taking preventive measures.

By E.C.G. (Electrocardio gram) investigation, we can know about the blood supply of the muscles of the heart.

Angiography : It also helps in identification of the points of obstruction in the blood vessels.

Thalium Scan : It is a modern medical test which informs the possibility of heart attack and the number of muscles damaged after the heart attack.

Treatment

For the treatment of the coronary heart disease, usually the patient is required to go through the "bypass surgery". Sometimes this surgery becomes essential to avoid the heart attack. In this surgery, damaged and narrowed part of the coronary artery is replaced by the healthy artery of the body (other than the heart artery) through the process of transplantation. Replacement of the damaged and narrowed artery of the heart ensures adequate supply of blood to the muscles of the heart.

Prevention

If we want to protect ourselves from heart diseases, first we should avoid all types of smoking. Secondly, we should adopt a habit of regular exercise like walking, running, swimming and playing different games. And the third step is to cut down on the amount of fat consumption.

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