What you should know about Myocardial Infarction or more commonly
known as HEART ATTACK.
By: David K. Mangusan Jr., BSPT, PTRP
Myocardial Infarction or more commonly known as Heart Attack is an infarction(death) of the myocardium (heart muscles) that results typically from coronary blood vessel occlusion.
The myocardium or the heart muscles receives its blood supply from two of the large arteries and their branches. The blockage of one or more of these heart blood vessels is one of the major causes of heart attack.
If partial occlusion of blood flow in the heart blood vessels occur, this may cause Myocardial Ischemia.
What is the difference between Myocardial Infarction and Myocardial Ischemia?
Myocardial Ischemia is a condition in which there is a reduced blood flow to the myocardium. Usually, ischemia causes a reduction in oxygen supply (hypoxia) to the heart muscle tissues, which may weaken the cardiac muscle cells without actually killing them while Myocardial Infarction results from the total occlusion of a blood vessel, which cuts the blood flow to the heart muscles.
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Who are at risk of having Myocardial Infarction?
Everybody is at risk of having MI.
Risk factors of Myocardial can be divided into non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors.
Modifiable Risk Factors:
- Age - risk of having MI increases with age
- Sex - males > females before menopause; males=females after menopause
- Family History
- Culture
Modifiable Risk Factors:
- Physical inactivity (sedentary lifestyle)
- High blood cholesterol levels (increased LDL: low density lipoprotein)
- Hypertension
- High Blood Pressure
- Smoking
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Obesity
- Stress
- Personality
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Clinical signs and symptoms of Myocardial Infarction.
- Pain possibly radiating down both arms
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Severe chest pain just underneath the breast bone lasting 30 minutes or more, which is not relieved by rest or nitroglycerine; or squeezing pressure
- Pallor
- Diaphoresis (heavy perspiration)
- SOB (shortness of breath)
- Weakness, feelings of faintness, and numbness
- Loss of vision or sudden dimness or loss of speech
- Feeling of indigestion
- If you experience any of the signs and symptoms above, consult your doctor immediately!!!
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Treatment goals:
Because the infarction process may take up to several hours to complete, restoration of blood supply to the heart muscles involved is important if significant tissue death is to be limited.
Treatment goals for clients with acute MI are prompt alleviation of manifestations and resolution of the acute attack, prevention of complications and further attacks, rehabilitation and educating the patient and patient's family.
Medical management may include hospital admission, surgery(coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft), medications( thrombolytic agents/clot dissolving agents such as streptolinase or t-PA, plus heparin), and cardiac rehabilitation.
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Cardiac Rehabilitation:
Primary goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to restore the MI patient to a full productive life.
The programs are concerned with the physiological, psychological, vocational, social, and recreational aspects of life.
NOTE: This topic is solely for the purpose of informing the readers about Myocardial Infarction.
I hope this information will be of help to you.
Thanks.
D.K. Mangusan Jr., PTRP
Sat Sep 30 14:22:22 UTC+0800 2006
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