Warning signs of heart attack that everyone needs to know
Nowadays, myocardial infarction is becoming more common among young people. At Hanoi Heart Hospital, doctors have received many cases of myocardial infarction in people under 40 years old.
The heart is the organ that pumps blood to nourish the body, nourished by two main blood vessels: the right coronary artery and the left coronary artery.
Myocardial infarction occurs when there is a sudden complete or partial blockage of two coronary arteries or multiple blockages in both coronary arteries. If a part of the heart muscle dies due to lack of blood, the heart's pumping function is no longer as complete as before, causing consequences such as heart failure, cardiogenic shock, sudden cardiac death...
Worldwide, the number of people who die from this disease each year is about 300,000-400,000 people. Myocardial infarction was previously known as a common disease in the elderly, but now the age of the disease is getting younger and younger. At Hanoi Heart Hospital, doctors have received emergency cases of myocardial infarction in people under 40 years old.
Myocardial infarction is a dangerous disease that requires timely emergency treatment. Illustration: NH
If diagnosed early and treated promptly, ischemic heart disease will be minimized and life-threatening acute complications as well as long-term complications will be limited.
Symptoms of myocardial infarction
- Nervous, heart pounding.
- Angina: The severity can range from a slight feeling of pressure or burning in the left chest to a severe, stabbing, squeezing pain. The pain may radiate to the neck, lower jaw, left shoulder, back, abdomen, or left arm. The pain may last more than 20 minutes.
- Shortness of breath.
- Sweating.
- Dizziness
- Nausea, vomiting.
- Hypotension or hypertension.
- Cold, damp hands and feet.
- Excitement, anxiety, panic.
- Fainted.
- Sudden death.
- Some patients do not experience the symptoms described above but only feel a little tired or just feel discomfort in the epigastric region...
The most obvious warning sign of a heart attack is chest pain. The pain is usually in the middle of the breastbone and lasts for a few minutes. The pain may come and go and come again.
The pain can feel like a pressure on the chest, a stabbing pain, or a feeling of suffocation. It can also be felt in other places such as the back, neck, jaw, or lower stomach. Shortness of breath is also common with chest pain.
Causes of myocardial infarction
According to doctors at Tuyen Quang General Hospital, the most common cause of myocardial infarction is atherosclerosis. This condition occurs due to atherosclerotic plaques that gradually accumulate over time and adhere to the walls of blood vessels, the components of which include cholesterol, calcium, and cell debris.
From around the age of 30, our bodies begin the process of forming and developing atherosclerotic plaques. This process takes place from several years to several decades. Some risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, lipid disorders, diabetes contribute to promoting vascular damage over time.
It is these disorders that make blood vessel walls susceptible to cholesterol molecules depositing and sticking.
Where the atherosclerotic plaque adheres to the vessel wall, it becomes inflamed. At some point, this atherosclerotic plaque peels off and ruptures, promoting the formation of a blood clot that blocks the blood vessel. When the blood vessel is blocked, the area of the heart muscle behind it is not supplied with blood, resulting in necrosis and death of that area of the heart muscle, causing myocardial infarction.
Unhealthy lifestyle, overweight, obesity, smoking for many years, along with work pressure and subjectivity in controlling risk factors are the causes of increased myocardial infarction.
Therefore, people should have regular health check-ups every 3-6 months. If you see the above signs of myocardial infarction, you should go to the hospital for examination, consultation and timely treatment./.
