Myocardial Infarction
Myocardial infarctions are all too familiar in this day and age. Just about every person knows somebody who has either had a myocardial infarction. “About every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a myocardial infarction (heart attack.” (American Heart Association, Inc., 2016). That means that roughly, in the ninety minutes of this class time, one hundred and thirty-five people have had heart attacks across the country. According to the CDC, “Every year, about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these cases, 525,000 are a first heart attack.” (CDC, 2015). So, what exactly is a myocardial infarction and what causes it to happen? There are several signs that could potentially alert an individual to
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It is this death of the cardiac muscle that is the heart attack. Plaque build-up in the arteries is known as atherosclerosis. “Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances found in the blood.” (National Institutes of Health, 2016). After a while, plaque solidifies and constricts the arteries. This reduces the movement of oxygen rich blood to the heart. When plaque accumulates in the coronary arteries it is called Coronary Artery Disease. “When a plaque in a heart artery breaks, a blood clot forms around the plaque. This blood clot can block the blood flow through the heart muscle.” (American Heart Association, Inc., 2016). Myocardial Infarctions can also be caused by Coronary Artery Spasm. “These spasms are due to a squeezing of muscles in the artery wall. They most often occur in just one area of the artery.” (Michael A. Chen, 2016). Coronary artery spasms are very rare. Only about two percent of individuals who suffer angina are experiencing it because of coronary artery spasms. “If the spasm lasts long enough, it may even cause a heart attack.” (Michael A. Chen, 2016). “Sometimes a heart attack is not just a heart attack, but the result of spontaneous tearing in the coronary artery wall. The artery wall has three layers and when a tear occurs, blood is able to pass through the innermost layer and become trapped and bulge inward. This narrows or blocks the artery
The most common physiological process leading to a myocardial infarction is the occlusion of coronary arteries by a process known as atherosclerosis. In fact, atherosclerosis is present in more than 90% of persons with coronary heart disease.1
Another word used to describe a heart attack is myocardial infarction, cardiac infarction and coronary thrombosis. A heart attack is the death of a part of the heart caused by the loss of blood supply. The blood supply is usually gone due to a coronary artery being blocked by a blood clot. When a part of a heart artery breaks a blood clot forms around the piece. This blood clot can block the blood flow through the heart muscle. When the heart muscle needs oxygen it is called ischemia. When damage of a part of the heart muscle happens it’s called a heart attack. During a heart attack damage occurs depending on the size of the area blocked by the blood clot as well as the time between the actual heart attack and the treatment. Even though the heart may be hurt, the rest of the organs work with no problems. However, it will not pump as much blood as it used to in order to supply the same amount of blood to all of the parts of the body.
A heart attack occurs when the oxygenated blood that typically flows to the heart muscle is severely reduced or cut off. This happens because the coronary arteries that supply the heart with blood slowly become narrow from built up plaque. If a piece of plaque breaks off, a blood clot typically forms around the plaque and the clot can block the blood flow through the heart. When blood flow is blocked, the muscles of the heart becomes starved for oxygen and nutrients, this is known as ischemia. Because the body needs oxygen to carry out vital life processes, ischemia can cause damage or death to parts of the heart muscles. When damage occurs it is called a heart attack or myocardial infarction (American Heart
Have you ever imagine a body functioning without a heart? The heart, the center of the cardiovascular system, is the essential manager for just about everything that gives the body life. Correspondingly, most of the heart diseases are fatal and cannot be ignored. In fact, "heart disease is the leading cause of death for women as well as men"(1). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every 25 seconds someone has a coronary event(1). One of these diseases is coronary heart disease (CHD). "CHD is a condition in which certain substances builds up inside the coronary arteries"(2). When these substances block the flow of oxygen-rich blood, heart attacks most often occur. Heart attack, also known as myocardial infarction, is a serious event and a leading killer that has numerous symptoms and certain risk factors.
Nevertheless, there is an understandable and noticeable link between circulatory related diseases and lifestyle diseases, such as Coronary Heart Disease. Coronary heart disease can occur when fatty acids, such as cholesterol in an inadequate diet, build up in the walls of the coronary artery. These fatty deposits collect minerals and harden to become a plaque. Eventually, this plaque grows and can swells up, forming an aneurism. In some cases, this aneurism may burst leading to instant death. As it continues to grow and swell up, it finally blocks the artery completely and forms blood clots. This is known as coronary thrombosis. A myocardial infarction, or in other words as heart attack, occurs when no oxygen is able to reach the coronary artery and thus it is unable to fulfil its role in providing the heart muscle with a sufficient supply of blood. Heart attacks are very common in the society nowadays, especially occurring in smokers or obesity related diseases (Millar, June 2014)
Myocardial Infarction (MI) is more commonly referred as the heart attack. This typically occurs due to an interruption, albeit partial to some part of the heart, which causes the cells in the heart to die and as a result sends
Heart disease is formed when plaque buildup thickens and stiffens artery walls. Causing it to
Similar to other diseases coronary heart disease affects thousands of people. The disease affects the heart in that it causes a waxy substance called plaque where it builds up inside of the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. When a person has coronary heart disease the hardened arteries restrict blood flow, which means that the heart cannot receive enough oxygenated blood, especially when it beats quickly during physical exertion or stress. This can cause chest pain and shortness of breath. However, if the artery is completely blocked, a heart attack can occur. Lack of oxygen during a heart attack causes damage as the heart muscle dies and is replaced with scar tissue. If damage is severe, the heart
The National Heart Foundation of Australia (2014) estimated that more than 350,000 Australians had experienced heart attack at some point in their lives, and about 54,000 cases are reported annually. In a statistical report circulated by Wong et al., (2013), more men than women who ages 30 to 65 years old, account of encountering this life-threatening disease in the last five years. This had claimed the lives of 8,611 Australian nationals in 2013, or in a mean of 24 people die every day (Wong et al., 2013).
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States per the Center for Disease Control (Heart Disease Facts). All students, regardless of gender and ethnicity, should be taught the importance of cardiovascular health in biology class so they can improve their wellbeing and identify risk factors for themselves and family members to prevent complications or death from heart disease. As new technologies emerge, in the form of health screening, medication and surgical procedures, doctors can better manage and detect heart disease. Also, called cardiovascular disease, heart disease is defined as narrowed or blocked blood vessels or arteries that causes reduced blood flow, chest pain (angina), or heart attack. A heart attack is when
Heart attack occurs when a blood clot suddenly and completely blocks a diseased coronary artery, resulting in the death of the heart muscle cells supplied by that artery. Coronary and Coronary Thrombosis 2 are terms that can refer to a heart attack. Another term, Acute Myocardial Infarction 2, means death of heart muscle due to an inadequate blood supply.
You’ve just experienced a heart attack. These words instantly change a persons life and may even change their quality of life. Heart attacks seem to be a common occurrence as most people know someone who has had or maybe even experienced one themselves. With something this common it is always a good idea to know a little about them.
The main cause of myocardial infarction is the occlusion of the coronary artery, due to the sudden rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque leading to the formation of a blood clot (coronary thrombosis). The formation of plaque is the result of damage to the endothelium layer of cells, caused by high blood pressure, smoking, or high cholesterol. Over time, an accumulation of cholesterol in the artery wall becomes plaque (Beckerman, 2016). This event can also trigger coronary vasospasm, causing constriction of blood vessels, resulting in severe hypertension. If a vessel is fully occluded, an insufficient amount of oxygen results in tissue death. The damaged tissue is comprised of both a necrotic core and a marginal zone consisting of hypoxic tissue that may generate arrhythmias, abnormal heart rhythms. Infarcted tissue can alter ventricular systolic and diastolic function and disrupt electrical activity within the heart. Inevitably, this tissue forms a fibrotic scar. Long-term consequences include ventricular failure, ventricular remodeling of the remaining myocardium, or sudden death (Klabunde, 2007).
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction. A heart attack occurs when a part of the heart muscle does not receive enough blood flow. The more time that passes without treatment to restore blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart muscle.
Myocardial is another term for heart attack. When you break down the word Myocardial here is what it means Myo- pertaining to the muscle, Cardi pertaining to the heart and -al means to pertain to. When you have a heart attack your heart does not stop beating. What a heart attack means is you are getting less oxygen than before. The heart is a muscles and like all of our muscles they require oxygen- rich blood. Sometimes people coronary arteries get blocked which causes blood clots. Signs of Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) is shortness of breath, palpitations(noticeable heart beats) , chest pain, Anxiety and light-headedness or dizziness. You can even become aware of weakness and