Question

HEART ATTACK

1. AN OVERVIEW OF THE ILLNESS/CONDITION.

AT MINIMUM INCLUDE

ANY USUAL CAUSE OR CAUSES

ORGANS AFFECTED

USUAL SYMPTOMS AND COMPLICATIONS

ADDITIONAL COMORBID CONDITIONS TO WATCH FOR, IF ANY

ANY ADDITIONAL AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN DEALING WITH A PATIENT WITH THE ILLNESS/CONDITION

2. WHAT WOULD BE THE TYPICAL TREATMENTS THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR THE CONDITION.

Answer 1

1) Heart attack is the medical condition which results from build up of fats in arteries ( atherosclerosis) , these arteries carry blood to the heart muscle.

ORGAN AFFECTED ;

Heart and its muscles are mainly afected by the heart attack , it create a plaque narrow the inside the arteries and make it harder for blood flow. When this plaque in the heart rupture, then a blood clot forms , and the clot further block the bllod flow.

When it completely block the blood flow to the part of muscles, the heart attack occur. And due to this , the muscles start deing because of the lack of oxygen because blood flow blocks.

USUAL CAUSES:

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of heart attack, the risk of developing these disease (CHD) is increased by these following:

• high blood pressure (hypertension)
• being overweight or obese
• a high-fat diet
• diabetes
• high cholesterol
• smoking

All the above factors are more common factors cause heart attack.

Drug misuse and Lack of oxygen in the blood (hypoxia) are also the causes for heart attack but they are no so common.

USUAL SYMPTOMS AND COMPLICATIONS:

The common symptoms of heart attack are:

• Chest pain : is the usual symptom with the tightness and pressure in thi middle of chest.
• Nausea and Vomiting
• Sweating
• the pain is seems to be traveled from chest to the arms (specially in left arm).
• Shortness of breath.

The compliacations of heart attack vary from mild to life threat conditions.

Some complications are mentioned below:

• Arrhythmia, the improper heart beat . If the beating is too quickly called supraventricular tachycardia. If the beating is too slowly called bradycardia. If the beating is irregularly called atrial fibrillation.
• Heart failure is the life threatcomplication , when the heart is unable to effectively pump blood around the  body. It can develop after a heart attack if the heart muscle is extensively damaged.  
• Cardiogenic shock is more seriors complication then heart failure. It develops when the heart muscle has been damaged so extensively it can no longer pump enough blood to maintain any body function.

DIAGNOSIS:

• The heart attack is diagnosed by Electrocardiogram(ECG), and fastest way to diagnosed , done within 10 mins after being admitted in hospital. It measure the electrical activity of heart and capture the irregularity of improper working of heart.

• Blood tests are also performed to diagnosed beacuse the damage to the heart from a heart attack causes certain proteins to slowly leak into your blood, that all will detect in blood test.

• A chest X-ray can be useful if diagnosis of a heart attack is uncertain and it will help to detect other causes, such as a pocket of air trapped between the layers of the lungs .

ADDITIONAL COMORBID CONDITIONS:

Coronary heart disease patients commonly present with more than one comorbid condition likecerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease or heart failure and often have problems with anxiety and depression .

RECOVERY:

The recovery takes several months to recover and there are certain range of help and care that are provided by the concerned health care organisation, and they will support you to recover physically and mentaly. They are as follow:

• nurses
• pharmacists
• dietitians
• exercise specialists
• physiotherapists

2)The treatment is based on the severity of heart attack. Treatment includes the surgury, medication and therapies.

The most serious type of heart attack is the ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) . For the treatment of this type :

• If the  symptoms start within the past 12 hours – the primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) usually offered.
• If the symptoms start within the past 12 hours but you cannot access PCI quickly, then the medication is provided to breakdown the blood clots.
• If the  symptoms started more than 12 hours ago then the patient offered a different procedure, especially if the symptoms have improved. The best way to treat will be decided after an angiogram and may include medicine, PCI or bypass surgery.

Other normal forms of heart attacks are treated by the following methods:

• Artificial heart valve surgery: In this treatment the replacement of abnormal or the diseased heart valve with a healthy .
• Transmyocardial revascularization (TMR): In this treatment a laser is used to drill a series of holes from the outside of the heart into the heart’s pumping chamber.
• Angioplasty: Special tubing with an attached deflated balloon is used to threaded up to the coronary arteries.
• Heart transplant: Removes a diseased heart and replaces it with a donated healthy human heart.
• Minimally invasive heart surgery: It is an alternative to standard bypass surgery.
• Bypass surgery: This treats the blocked heart arteries by creating new passages for blood to flow to the heart muscle.

Some medications are also used to treat heart attack:

• Anticoagulant
• Combined alpha and beta blocker
• Calcium channel blocker
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor
• Angiotensin II receptor blocker
• Vasodilator
• Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor
• Cholesterol-lowering medications

In Heart attacks, that have stents placed in their coronary arteries, or undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery are treated with two types of antiplatelet agents at the same time to the prevent blood clotting. This is called dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). This therapy is also used as a treatment.