How Do You Treat a Heart Attack?

How do you treat a heart attack? In America, heart disease is the leading cause of death among men and women over the age of 50. A heart attack, also referred to as “myocardial infarction” is defined as a sudden interruption of the blood supply to the heart that results from a coronary artery obstruction. 

Heart attacks are generally the result of heart disease and the negligence of a healthy lifestyle. Although heart attacks are not always a matter of personal control, they are usually brought on when victims say yes to stress instead of exercise, yes to donuts and coffee instead of vegetables, fruit, and live foods, yes to cigarettes and the vices that bring pleasure to the moment instead of saying yes to a disciplined lifestyle that brings health and vibrancy. 

How Do You Treat a Heart Attack

Immediate treatment of a heart attack involves resolving the blockage and getting blood flowing property to your heart. There are a number of different things that may happen when you get to a hospital:

• You may be given aspirin or other blood thinning medications to try to thin your blood so the heart won't have to work as hard and so more blood can get to and from the heart.
• You may be given thromboyltics or clot busters to try to break up the clots preventing blood flow to or from your heart.
• You may be given nitroglycerin to open up your blood vessels.
• You may be given beta blockers to relax your heart and increase blood flow.
• Angioplasty may be performed, which involves inserting a catheter with a balloon on the end into your arteries and then inflating the balloon to open up the artery. After the artery is opened, a stent (a piece of mesh metal) will be inserted to keep it open.
• Emergency bypass surgery may be performed which redirects the flow of blood by attaching certain arteries together to go around the clogged ones (sort of like creating a detour).

While these emergency treatments may be done that day, ultimately the focus of treating a heart attack is on instituting lifestyle changes to prevent further heart attacks from occurring.

Long Term Treatment

The appropriate answer to how do you treat a heart attack long term depends on what caused the heart attack. There are a number of different risk factors that can be treated after you have had a heart attack to minimize the chances of it coming back:

• High Blood Pressure (HBP) - If a person had high blood pressure that resulted in a heart attack, it is important for that person to alter their diet by reducing stress and sodium intake to accommodate this problem.
• Cholesterol - If high cholesterol is the culprit, it may be necessary to follow a strict diet regimen in order to naturally reduce the build-up of cholesterol in the arteries. Your doctor may also need to prescribe medicines for cholesterol and/or for HBP, when diet alone is not enough.
• Diabetes – This is a condition that also requires a strict diet regimen in addition to insulin, depending on the type diabetes one has. Often, diabetes leads to obesity, another contributing factor to heart attack/disease.
• Hereditary - If heart disease is a result of hereditary factors, this should give a person all the more reason to adjust their lives to a healthy lifestyle. 

Other Lifestyle Changes

Inactivity is perhaps a major reason that many people suffer from heart attacks. The temptation to succumb to inactivity contributes to a lowered metabolic rate.

Cardiovascular activity strengthens the muscles of the heart just like pumping iron strengthens the muscles of the arms and chest. Not only does cardiovascular exercise benefit your heart, but it has been proven to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, stress and it increases the metabolic rate. This is a small price to pay for the health of your heart.

Healthy Eating

For the average person, changing a diet to accommodate a healthier lifestyle can be intimidating, if not downright scary. Because your life depends on it, all the comfort foods that you’ve always enjoyed are no longer welcome on the list of healthy heart foods.

Not to fret because making your change can be a delicious process. By substituting live foods (vegetables, fruits, yogurt, etc) for foods that are rich in fat, cholesterol, and calories, you will be giving your heart a chance to catch up to the daily demands that you place on it.

Just Say No!

So how do you treat a heart attack? You can start by just saying no! Drug resistance programs teach our children to say no to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. A heart attack should teach you to say no to these things as well as to stress, unhealthy eating habits, and inactivity.

Saying no to an unhealthy lifestyle is a choice that you will be glad you will have made. Even if you have not experienced a heart attack, a proactive approach to this national problem will help you to stay ahead of this critical game.