Other names for Heart Attack : Coronary Attack, Coronary Occlusion, Coronary Thrombosis, Myocardial Infarction
 

A heart attack (also called myocardial infarction) is when part of the heart muscle is damaged or dies because it isn't receiving oxygen. Oxygen is carried to the heart by the coronary arteries (blood vessels). Most heart attacks are caused by a blockage in these arteries. Usually the blockage is caused by atherosclerosis, which is the buildup of fatty deposits (called plaque) inside the artery. Women with heart attack symptoms take far longer to get to the hospital than men do. Men, meanwhile, are more likely than women to make the dangerous choice of driving themselves to the emergency room. All adults -- but especially women -- need to be educated on the proper response to heart attack symptoms. Medical conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes are potent risk factors for heart attack. Those who have impotence should have a medical evaluation to determine if they have any signs of heart disease.

Natural options for Heart Attack prevention
Before you start any supplement program for heart disease prevention or treatment, please make sure you discuss it with your doctor and you have full approval and regular supervision.

Vitamin E works better with CoQ10 to reduce inflammation in heart disease. Limit Vitamin E to maximum 200 units a few times a week.
B Complex in order to reduce levels of Homocysteine. Limit B complex use to one to three times the RDA. There is yet no proof that lowering homocysteine with B vitamins reduces heart attack rate.
Fish OIls or eating cold water fish reduces the risk for heart rhythm disturbances and may reduce the risk of Heart palpitations, atrial fibrillation and ventricular Arrhythmia. Fish oils may reduce the incidence of sudden cardiac death probably due to an anti-arrhythmic effect.
Curcumin protects rat myocardium against ischemic insult and the protective effect could be attributed to its antioxidant properties. Curcumin is derived from turmeric.
Overweight people lose virtually no weight after suffering a heart attack even though weight loss can reduce the risk for a second heart attack. Diet Rx in low dosages could help with weight loss and should be worth a try. Ask your doctor if Diet Rx is appropriate for you. By eating less and losing weight, there is a reduction in blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels.

Folic Acid and heart attack
Can taking folic acid supplements reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke? The evidence has been contradictory.
After analyzing evidence from earlier studies, a team of scientists in Britain said in 2006 there is enough research that shows folic acid lowers levels of the amino acid homocysteine and reduces the odds of cardiovascular disease. "The evidence is very persuasive that lowering homocysteine with folic acid will lower your risk of heart attack and stroke by about 10-20 percent," David Wald, of the Wolfson Institute for Preventive Medicine, Barts and The London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry in London, said in an interview.

Post Heart Attack treatment
In the United States, heart attack victims are routinely offered expensive and invasive treatments, like statin pills to lower cholesterol or implantable defibrillators. However, in Italy, doctors don't jump on the drug bandwagon that quickly. Every patient in the cardiac care unit at the San Filippo Neri Hospital who survives a heart attack goes home with a prescription for purified fish oil. “It is clearly recommended in international guidelines,” syas Dr. Massimo Santini, the hospital’s chief of cardiology, who added that it would be considered tantamount to malpractice in Italy to omit fish oils for post heart attack treatment. In a large number of studies, fish oil has been shown to improve survival after heart attacks and to reduce fatal heart rhythms. The American College of Cardiology has strengthened its position on the medical benefit of fish oil.

Acute heart attack and stents
Patients given drug-coated stents after an acute heart attack are several times more likely to die six months to two years later than those with bare metal forms of the arterial scaffolding.

Cause of Heart Attack
Smoking, high blood pressure, heart disease, certain medicines and drugs, stress, poor diet, nutrient deficiency, are some of the chronic conditions that increase the rate of heart attack.
   A rapid drop in air pressure may trigger some heart attacks. The incidence of heart attack, but not stroke, is increased in the 24 hours after a rapid fall in barometric pressure.
   Cold temperature is to blame for the well-known winter peak in the incidence of sudden death due to heart attack. The fact that cold temperatures increase blood pressure and put more strain on the heart is a possible explanation for the increased rate of sudden cardiac death during wintertime. Cold stress may also trigger processes that make blood thicker and increase its ability to clot, which can lead to cardiac events.
   High humidity, even in a relatively mild climate, boosts the risk of a heart attack among the elderly.
   Fatal heart attacks may be more likely among people who spend decades living in heavily polluted areas.
   Inhaling diesel exhaust fumes causes changes in the body that make people more prone to heart attack or stroke.
   Influenza and other serious respiratory infections significantly increase the risk of heart attack, particularly during the period of infection and the week after.

The risk of suffering from either potentially fatal event doubles in the week following a respiratory infection but recedes thereafter

Heart Attack Symptom

A heart attack symptom does not always present itself near the heart. Most heart attack symptoms start slowly, with mild chest pain or discomfort. Often people affected aren't sure what's wrong and wait too long before getting help. Here are heart attack symptoms that can mean a heart attack is happening:
Chest discomfort - Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
Discomfort in other areas of the upper body - Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
Shortness of breath. May occur with or without chest discomfort.
Other heart attack symptoms and signs - These may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

Heart Attack CPR treatment

Chest compression -- not mouth-to-mouth resuscitation -- seems to be the key in helping someone recover from cardiac arrest during or following a heart attack. A study in Japan showed that people were more likely to recover without brain damage if rescuers focused on chest compressions rather than rescue breaths, and some experts advised dropping the mouth-to-mouth part of CPR altogether.

Pain Medicines and Heart Attack
High doses of some older, commonly used painkillers, as well as newer drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors, raise the risk of a heart attack risk of dying of a heart attack, stroke or other heart-related problem. COX-2 inhibitors and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), particularly ibuprofen and diclofenac, increase the risk of heart attacks.
     The findings of a study of more than 9,000 patients, which is reported in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), suggest that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, increase the danger of heart attack. In April 2005 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended stronger warnings on NSAIDs, including the newer generation of anti-inflammatories -- COX-2 inhibitors. The link between COX-2 inhibitors and increased risk of heart attack is now well established. COX-2 inhibitors increase the risk of heart attack by raising blood pressure and making the blood more likely to clot. They do so by the same mechanisms that they use to reduce pain and inflammation
     With prescription drugs Vioxx and Bextra already pulled from the market, a study has raised disturbing questions about the heart safety of long-term use of over-the-counter pain relievers such as Advil, Motrin and Aleve. Smokers in Norway who took such drugs for at least six months had a higher rate of heart problems.

Loud Noise as a Cause of Heart Attack
Living or working in noisy surroundings may raise a person's risk of suffering a heart attack. Researchers in Germany found that urban middle-aged adults who lived near high-traffic roads were 40 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack than those who lived in more peaceful neighborhoods. It is not clear whether exposure to pollution may also be a contributing factor. Similarly, men whose jobs exposed them to high noise levels were about one-third more likely to have a heart attack than their peers in quieter workplaces. The reason for these associations is not completely clear, but the stress of dealing with chronic noise may be involved.

Alcohol and Heart Attack
A few drinks of alcohol per week impairs the ability of platelets -- elements in the blood involved in clotting -- to turn on and clump together to form a clot. Moderate alcohol use has been linked to a decreased risk of heart attack.

Pregnancy and Heart Attack
The risk of heart attack in women of reproductive age is low, and the risk increases three to four times in pregnant women compared with women who are not pregnant. Overall, 6 of every 100,000 pregnant women will have a heart attack. The heart attack risk increases with age, with pregnant women over 40 years old 30-times more likely to have a heart attack than pregnant women under the age of 20. Pregnancy can now be considered a risk factor for heart attack.

Heart Attack and Genes
A study covering more than 2,000 patients has identified two genes that are associated with an increased risk of an early heart attack. Those with the genes had twice the risk of an early-onset heart attack as those without,. The research linked one form of a gene known as VAMP8 to the early stages of blood-clot formation, which, when formed in the heart, can block oxygen and lead to a heart attack. Another gene, HNRPUL1 was also found to be associated with heart attack risk.

Symptom of Heart Attack
During a heart attack, symptoms last 30 minutes or longer and are not relieved by rest or oral medications (medications taken by mouth). Symptoms of a heart attack include the following:

* Pressure, heaviness, or pain in the chest, arm or below the breastbone
* Pain or discomfort radiating to the back, jaw, throat or arm
* Fullness, indigestion or choking feeling (may feel like heartburn)
* Sweating, weakness, nausea, vomiting or dizziness
* Anxiety or shortness of breath
* Rapid or irregular heartbeats

Some people have a heart attack without having any symptoms (a "silent" myocardial infarction). A silent MI can occur in any person, though it is more common among diabetics. Mild heart attacks in four out of nine people are undetected because patients do not recognize or dismiss the symptoms. Women, particularly those who are overweight, diabetics and the elderly are more likely to have an undiagnosed heart attack, which increases their risk of suffering future cardiac problems.

Acute Treatment for Heart Attack
Patients with unstable angina or non-ST-segment elevation acute heart attack fare worse when they are treated with intravenous morphine -- standard practice when pain is not relieved with nitroglycerin. However, the possibility that patients treated with morphine are simply sicker to begin with cannot be ruled out.

How Soon to Return to Work after a Heart Attack
Some heart attack survivors may be able to go back to work much sooner than is typically recommended. Certain heart attack patients are able to return to work just two weeks after suffering the attack, without raising their risk of a repeat attack or other complications. Those patients deemed to be at low risk of a second heart attack, based on tests conducted during their hospital stay can return to work much sooner than the usual six to eight weeks.

Pollution and Heart Attack
Exposure to diesel exhaust fumes interferes with the normal functioning of the body's blood vessels and provide a potential mechanism that links air pollution to the development of blood clots and heart attack.

Chromium and Heart Attack
Low body levels of chromium, a mineral involved in carbohydrate and fat metabolism, are associated with an increased risk of heart attack. Chromium deficiency leads to blood sugar problems that cannot be controlled with insulin, but the association of chromium intake with heart-related outcomes is largely unknown. Dr. Eliseo Guallar from the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research in Baltimore, and colleagues measured chromium levels in 684 men who survived a heart attack and in a similar number of men who'd never experienced one. Chromium levels were lower among older individuals, declining about 9 percent with each decade increase of age. Levels were also lower in those with high blood pressure. Chromium levels were also 13-percent lower in heart attack patients than in comparison subjects, the researchers note. Further analysis showed that subjects with the highest levels were 35-percent less likely to have a heart attack than those with the lowest levels.

A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is severely reduced or blocked due to a narrowing in one of the coronary arteries. This usually occurs as a result of atherosclerosis. When platelets gather at the narrowing, they can form a clot that completely blocks the blood flow. If the blood supply is cut off for more than a few minutes, the muscle cells of the heart may be permanently injured or die from lack of oxygen.

Heart Attack questions
Q.  Is it okay to take CoQ10, lipoic acid, or curcumin after a heart attack?
     A. I am not sure, but I suspect a low dose of CoQ10, such as 10 to 30 mg, a few times a week would be safe, and a low dose of curcumin, let's say 500 mg a few times a week would also be okay, but we don't studies to confirm this. As to lipoic acid, 10 to 20 mg a few times a week should also be okay. Most often, after a heart attack, a patient is placed on multiple drugs, so one has to be cautious combining these drugs with supplements.

Q. Is there any type on erectile dysfunction medication that is safe for those with previous heart attack? ie: previous heart attack (9 yrs ago). My very overweight b/f (5'8', 200 lbs, 53 yrs young) cannot lose weight and has ED. He has been unable to lose weight. I understand that yohimbe is unsafe for heart attack problems but what about Passion rx without yohimbe?
     A. Most of the sex herbs have cardiac stimulating potential, and hence are not considered a good choice for those with previous heart attack, including regular Passion Rx without yohimbe. He may wish to ask his doctor if one capsule of Prostate Power Rx a few times a week is an option. It is not as potent as Passion Rx but is not as cardiac stimulating. Also he can ask his doctor whether one or two fish oil capsules a day would be helpful.

Q. My wife recently had a mild heart attack. In the angiogram they said she had clean arteries. Her bad cholesterol is low but her good is low as well. They said it was stress related and that her heart had a spasm that restricted blood flow. They put her on Plavix 75 mg. and Diltiazem 240 mg as well as niacin. We don't really care for drugs and would really prefer something natural if possible as well as exercise. I should also mention she had taken Alli for weight loss for about 10 months, but not everyday. We recently moved to Leadville Colorado which is at 10150 feet elevation. The atmospheric pressure at sea level is about 14 and here it is about 10. Would this have an adverse effect on her?
   A. Although some doctors may disagree, it appears that high altitude may cause more stress on the heart.
 

Heart Attack Symptom