What is the difference between heart attack and cardiac arrest? Heart attackĪ heart attack occurs when an artery supplying blood to your heart becomes blocked, which stops blood flow and reduces the amount of oxygen that gets to your heart.Ī person having a heart attack is usually conscious and may be complaining of chest discomfort or pain or other symptoms.Ī cardiac arrest occurs when your heart stops beating due to an electrical malfunction.Ī person in cardiac arrest will be unconscious (not able to respond) and will not be breathing. Like coronary heart disease, this also reduces or stops blood flow reaching your heart. If an artery has a severe spasm, it can cause a heart attack.Ī heart attack can also be caused by the tearing of the coronary artery wall (spontaneous coronary artery dissection). Some heart attacks are caused when a coronary artery contracts (spasms) and narrows. Not all heart attacks are caused by coronary heart disease and plaque rupture. Other causes of heart attack besides blockage This can block the flow of blood through the artery and cause damage to the heart muscle. The narrowed artery causes a reduced amount of blood flow to your heart muscle.ĭuring a heart attack, plaque from the artery wall breaks away (ruptures) and can form a clot. Plaque is made of fat, cholesterol and other materials. The most common cause of a heart attack is coronary heart disease. This occurs when the coronary artery, which supplies blood to your heart, narrows because of a build-up of plaque. If you, or someone you know, is experiencing heart attack symptoms for greater than 10 minutes of rest, or if symptoms are severe, or they are getting worse, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.Ī heart attack can also be called a myocardial infarction (MI). One patient is admitted to an Australian hospital with a heart attack every nine minutes. Each day, an average of 21 Australians die from a heart attack. Your heart can be damaged by interrupted blood flow caused by a heart attack. The longer the blockage is left untreated the more the damage occurs. Without urgent treatment to restore the blood flow, the damage can be permanent.Ī heart attack can be fatal. This causes the most common heart attack symptoms, which are chest discomfort or pain and can spread to your arms, neck, jaw or back. Unlike angina this discomfort often last for longer than 10 minutes This stops the blood flow and reduces the amount of oxygen that gets to your heart muscle. A heart attack occurs when a coronary artery, which supplies blood to your heart, becomes blocked. Your blood carries oxygen, which is needed by every cell in your body, all the time. Your heart pumps oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart, and then on to the rest of the body.įor your heart to function properly, it needs a good blood supply.
It’s one of your most important muscles as it pumps blood all over your body through the circulatory system. The heart is a muscular pump that’s a little larger than your fist.
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