Patricia Woloch asked:


A heart attack (myocardial infarction), is a common but often deadly event. Over one million Americans suffer from heart attacks each year and approximately one in three of these people will die.

During a heart attack, an artery providing the heart with oxygen-rich blood is blocked by blood platelets. The heart thus becomes oxygen deprived and heart muscle cells begin to die. Permanent damage can be caused in a very short time.

Signs & Symptoms

Heart attacks can occur quickly but there may be warning signs and symptoms. These can include:

• Pressure, squeezing, or pain in the chest

• Shortness of breath

• Sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath

• Back, stomach, neck, or jaw pain or discomfort

• Irregular or rapid heart beats

These symptoms may develop over minutes, hours, or days before the heart attack occurs. It is also possible to have a ‘silent’ heart attack, occurring without symptoms, although these are most common in diabetics.

Treatments

Because permanent heart damage, or even death, can occur very quickly after the onset of the heart attack, symptoms should be treated as a medical emergency and treatment sought immediately. There are a number of medications that should be administered by medical health professionals immediately upon even the suspicion of a heart attack. These include:

• Oxygen

• Aspirin

• Beta blockers

• Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors

• Thrombolytic medicines

There are also certain diagnostic tests that should be performed to verify whether a heart attack has occurred and if so, how much damage the heart has sustained.

• Electrocardiogram (ECG, EKG)

• Chest X-Rays

• Blood Tests

Misdiagnosis

Once a doctor or first responder is notified, the key to surviving and recovering from a heart attack is proper diagnosis. Diagnosis is first made based on symptoms, many of which mimic the symptoms of a number of other conditions.

• Angina: Characterized by pain in the chest lasting for a few minutes, angina is a side-effect of coronary artery disease. While abnormal angina can signal the onset of a heart attack, the pain usually passes.

• Heartburn & Indigestion: Pain associated with these common conditions can be mistaken for heart attack pain.

If an improper diagnosis is made based on symptoms, the appropriate medications will not be administered and tests will not be performed. The heart can sustain serious and irreparable damage. People who suffered from, and survived, an undiagnosed heart attack have an increased risk of a second heart attack.

Many heart attacks that go unaddressed or undiagnosed are deadly. The National Institutes of Health estimates that approximately half of the people suffering from heart attacks die will die within an hour of experiencing the first symptoms.

Legal Options

When a heart attack is misdiagnosed and further tests and treatments are not undertaken to rule out the possibility of a heart attack, there may be an issue of medical negligence. Victims may be entitled to compensation for medical bills and pain and suffering incurred as a result of the misdiagnosis. When misdiagnosis of a heart attack results in death, a wrongful death lawsuit may be appropriate.

Diagnosing medical conditions is complicated, and proving a misdiagnosis can be equally so. According to Salt Lake City medical malpractice attorney Ryan Springer of G. Eric Nielson & Associates, the medical field has its own language, which can be impossible to understand for those outside the field. The complexity of the language and issues makes medical malpractice law an area where it is essential to have legal representation skilled in medical malpractice issues.



Edna

lucylu+benji2 asked:


What would be the recommendation for this child who went through the trauma of finding her beloved dad dead of a sudden heart-attack? I am the 13 year old who is now a 32 year old female who has not gone through counseling but has difficulty with a multitude of problems that arise when high stress is involved. I am going to see a psychiatrist tomorrow, but wondered what long term affects can be caused with this? I have overall anxiety issues with people in general, but especially the opposite sex, and those who I may be in a current relationship with. I tend to push away after getting close, however, don’t wish to, but can’t help it.

Any suggestions or information would be appreciated!

Geraldine

Barry Hurd asked:


Per Wikipedia “Defibrillation is the definitive treatment for the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. Defibrillation consists of delivering a therapeutic dose of electrical energy to the affected heart with a device called a defibrillator. This depolarizes a critical mass of the heart muscle, terminates the arrhythmia, and allows normal sinus rhythm to be reestablished by the body’s natural pacemaker, in the sinoatrial node of the heart.”

I was recently thinking on this topic. Why is social media such a hard thing to wrap your business head around? Probably because we use so many terms trying to shorten our ideas and concepts into statements that area not only hard to understand, but as non-sexy as you can get.

Like good health, social media tends to push novices into a dark spot where they do not understand the lingo and vocabulary. By pushing them into unfamiliar territory, they retreat and ignore the basics of getting healthy to improve their life.

If you are trying to understand social media, you are probably realizing that it has more in common with our body than you could know. Unfortunately many of us treat our bodies very poorly.

Take consistency as a point. Like a strong heart, a social media campaign has a regular beat to it. Unfortunately social media tends to be comparative to sitting in the bleachers of your favorite sports game and being trampled by the star player as they make a dive for the game point. One minute you are at rest, the next minute you are subconsciously dealing with information overload.

Those instant “ups and downs” created by communities reacting to your online presence (or lack there of) can be mitigated by having a healthy check-up and having a regiment of flexing your social media muscles.

Too many companies simply rely on one aspect of an online presence to mitigate one freak instance from doing irreparable damage. Sure you may have a website, but do you YouTube, Linkedin, Twitter, or simply converse with your own clients?

Having a presence on different services may not impact your brand today, but it can help mitigate and defend your brand tomorrow. There are three parts of understanding why having a healthy social media and online brand is good for you:

1. A strong body stays healthier, longer. If you keep fit, your body (aka personal brand) will take care of you in some rather tough situations. You can jump higher, move faster, and manage to turn heads a little more often.

2. Healthy brands, like healthy people, have dedicated friends. While a presence on Twitter or Facebook may not work for every company, having an established group of supporters and evangelists is in your best interests. If you had a heart attack in real life, do you really want to experience it alone: or do you want to be surrounded by a community of trusted supporters who know the right person to call?

3. Knowing the right person. Regardless of how good your personal network is; the “network effect” multiplies the number of people available on a ten-fold level. (I.E. Your 100 contacts give you access to 1000.) Would you rather turn to your immediate personal contacts and rely on one of them to perform open heart surgery on you, or open up the search to a few connections away?

After thinking about it- take a moment to browse more information on social media and give yourself an education on terms used and steps that will flex your social media brain. Creating an effective strategy, committing to moving through the steps, and keeping a learning mindset will help grow your professional goals online. Without your planning and commitment to the end goal of having a healthier business brand, you may find yourself having a sudden cardiac problem.



Brandon

peterhutch asked:


Heart attacks are the leading killers of both men and women in the United States. Today, fortunately, there are a number of treatments for heart attacks that can both save lives and prevent disabilities. Treatment is most effective when it is started within one hour of the beginning of symptoms. The minute symptoms of a heart attack occur or a person suspects a heart attack, it is important to dial 911 immediately.

Heart attacks seem to be sudden, but that’s not the truth. Signs and symptoms of a heart attack need to be recognized. These help in quick medical attention, as well as saving lives.

Heart attacks are emergency situations that require the immediate attention of medical services. As a first step in treatment, you need to stop the palpitation of the heart and transport the patient by ambulance to the nearest hospital. This vastly increases the chances of survival.

Major heart attack risk factors include a history of angina or vascular disease, a previous stroke or heart attack, old age, excessive alcohol, the abuse of illegal drugs, smoking, episodes of abnormal heart beat, obesity, high levels of stress, high or low cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Heart attacks and medicines almost always appear in the same sentence. There are medicines to avoid and prevent heart attacks. This is brought to us by the technological advancement that man has achieved over the years. Although, some medicines before where proven to have negative effects when taken by a person with a heart condition, doctors try to warn their patients about them. Some medicines even cause heart complications.

Since heart attacks are the leading causes of death worldwide, knowing the signs could mean the difference between life and death. Contrary to some belief, heart attacks do not always have to be a “chest-grabbing” incident. Many people experiencing a heart attack actually thought it was just heart burn or chest muscle pains. And it doesn’t even have to be a one-time discomfort. You can experience recurring symptoms, which may feel mild one day and the next day severe, before an actual heart attack happens. So before you put yourself or your loved ones in serious dangers, here are some heart attack signs to look for.

People with a history of stroke, atherosclerotic heart disease or angina and abnormal heart rhythm have a higher risk of experiencing a heart attack. The disease mostly affects men over 40 years old and women over 50 years old. There are also medical and scientific studies stating that women who use contraceptive pills have a higher risk of a heart attack than those who does not use them. A person’s lifestyle can also increase chances of a heart attack. Smoking, drinking, drug abuse, presence of high triglyceride levels in the food you eat, high LDL levels and low HDL levels are some of the risk factors you should learn to avoid.



Douglas

Abdul K asked:


Can I please have some statistics on how often people survive their first heart attack?

Denise

Kellie E asked:


I am wondering if it is possible if a heart attack can start and last for afew days. I have this tightness in my neck, left side and it follows up towards the back of my jaw. Also have pain in my breast bone. It has been happening for a few days now. Maybe just stress, but it is kinda scary!

Randall

Peter sams asked:


Heart Attack

Heart disease affects your heart’s muscle, blood vessels, and electrical system and is the leading cause of death among women. The most common form of heart disease is coronary artery disease in which plaque (a fat-like substance) deposits on artery walls. Plaque build-up is called atherosclerosis. This is a chronic condition that occurs in people with risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, smoking, abnormal levels of blood fats, high blood pressure, a family history of heart disease and older age. When a plaque ruptures, it causes a blood clot to form and suddenly block an artery. If this happens in a heart artery, it results in a heart attack.

Treatment

Don’t smoke

Control your blood pressure

Control your cholesterol level.

Maintain a healthy weight.

Exercise regularly.

Eat a low-fat diet.

Take care of diabetes.

Be aware of chest pain.

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure (also called hypertension) occurs when your blood moves through your arteries at a higher pressure than normal. The heart is a pump designed to force blood through our body. Blood is pumped from the heart through the arteries out to our muscles and organs.

Pumps work by generating pressure. Put simply, too much pressure puts a strain on the arteries and on the heart itself. This can cause an artery to rupture or the heart to fail under the strain - in the worst case stopping altogether.

Treatment

Blood pressure is measured with a monitor called a sphygmomanometer. This is a digital box attached to a tube with a cuff on the end. The cuff is placed around the upper arm and inflated to a certain level, then deflated slowly. A sensor in the cuff provides information about the blood pressure or a doctor or nurse will listen to the blood flow using a stethoscope.

Hypertensive Heart disease

Hypertensive heart disease is any of a number of complications of arterial hypertension that affect the heart. It is one of the most common causes of death in western societies. Hypertensive heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death associated with hypertension and is actually a group of disorders that include heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and left ventricular hypertrophy

Treatment

Common medications include diuretics, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor antagonists, and direct vasodilators. intravenous diazoxide or nitroprusside may be prescribed if hypertension is extremely severe and intensive care is necessary. Preventive measures against hypertensive heart disease emphasize control over weight, healthy diet (rich in fiber and vitamins), and abstinence from drugs and alcohol. In cases of a severe heart problem, surgery may be required to restore the normal blood flow in the heart and/or blood vessels.

In addition to medications, recommended lifestyle changes include weight loss, exercise, and dietary adjustments. Dietary recommendations include increasing fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products. Whole grains, poultry, and fish are also generally recommended. Tran’s fats and saturated fats should be avoided. Patients may benefit from reducing salt intake. If you smoke, stop smoking — cigarettes are a major cause of hypertension and related heart disease. Reducing excessive alcohol consumption may also help.



Randy

.·´¯`·->₤ẫđŷ ĢĕΜ<-·´¯`·. asked:


What are the symptoms of a heart attack and how do they differ between men and women?

Cathy