Many people survive heart attacks and live active, full lives. If you get help quickly, treatment can limit damage to your heart muscle.
Less heart damage improves your chances for a better quality of life after a heart attack. After a heart attack, you'll need treatment for ischemic heart disease. This will help prevent another heart attack. Your doctor may recommend:. If you find it hard to get your medicines or or complete your cardiac rehabilitation program, talk with your doctor.
Don't stop the medicines or program because it can help you prevent another heart attack. After a heart attack, most people who don't have chest pain or discomfort or other problems can safely return to most of their normal activities within a few weeks. Most can begin walking right away. Sexual activity also can begin within a few weeks for most patients. Talk with your doctor about a safe schedule for returning to your normal routine. If allowed by state law, driving usually can begin within a week for most patients who don't have chest pain or discomfort or other disabling problems.
Each state has rules about driving a motor vehicle following a serious illness. People who have complications shouldn't drive until their symptoms have been stable for a few weeks.
After a heart attack, many people worry about having another heart attack. Sometimes they feel depressed and have trouble adjusting to new lifestyle changes. Talk about how you feel with your health care team. Talking to a professional counselor also can help. If you're very depressed, your doctor may recommend medicines or other treatments that can improve your quality of life. Joining a patient support group may help you adjust to life after a heart attack.
You can see how other people who have the same symptoms have coped with them. Talk with your doctor about local support groups or check with an area medical center. Support from family and friends also can help relieve stress and anxiety.
Let your loved ones know how you feel and what they can do to help you. Once you've had a heart attack, you're at higher risk for another one. Knowing the difference between angina and a heart attack is important. Angina is chest pain that occurs in people who have ischemic heart disease. The pain from angina usually occurs after physical exertion and goes away in a few minutes when you rest or take medicine as directed.
The pain from a heart attack usually is more severe than the pain from angina. Heart attack pain doesn't go away when you rest or take medicine. The symptoms of a second heart attack may not be the same as those of a first heart attack. Don't take a chance if you're in doubt. Always call 9—1—1 right away if you or someone else has heart attack symptoms. Unfortunately, most heart attack victims wait 2 hours or more after their symptoms start before they seek medical help.
This delay can result in lasting heart damage or death. Learn more about participating in a clinical trial. View all trials from ClinicalTrials. Visit Children and Clinical Studies to hear experts, parents, and children talk about their experiences with clinical research.
Heart Attack. Also known as Myocardial infarction. See also. What Is - Heart Attack. Overview Heart attacks most often occur as a result of ischemic heart disease , also called coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease. Other Names - Heart Attack. Causes - Heart Attack. Coronary Heart Disease A heart attack happens if the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked and the heart can't get oxygen.
Coronary Artery Spasm A less common cause of heart attack is a severe spasm tightening of a coronary artery. What causes a coronary artery to spasm isn't always clear. A spasm may be related to: Taking certain drugs, such as cocaine Emotional stress or pain Exposure to extreme cold Cigarette smoking.
Risk Factors - Heart Attack. Risk Factors You Can Control The major risk factors for a heart attack that you can control include: Smoking High blood pressure High blood cholesterol Overweight and obesity An unhealthy diet for example, a diet high in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium Lack of routine physical activity High blood sugar due to insulin resistance or diabetes Some of these risk factors—such as obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar—tend to occur together.
The risk of heart disease increases for men after age 45 and for women after age 55 or after menopause. Family history of early heart disease. Your risk increases if your father or a brother was diagnosed with heart disease before 55 years of age, or if your mother or a sister was diagnosed with heart disease before 65 years of age. This condition can develop during pregnancy. The two main signs of preeclampsia are a rise in blood pressure and excess protein in the urine.
Preeclampsia is linked to an increased lifetime risk of heart disease, including CHD, heart attack, heart failure , and high blood pressure. Additionally, we offer information and resources on how we are working hard to support necessary COVID research. Screening and Prevention - Heart Attack. Signs, Symptoms, and Complications - Heart Attack.
It is important for you to know the most common symptoms of a heart attack and also remember these facts: Heart attacks can start slowly and cause only mild pain or discomfort. Symptoms can be mild or more intense and sudden. Symptoms also may come and go over several hours. People who have high blood sugar diabetes may have no symptoms or very mild ones. The most common symptom, in both men and women, is chest pain or discomfort.
Women are somewhat more likely to have shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, unusual tiredness sometimes for days , and pain in the back, shoulders, and jaw. Most Common Symptoms The most common warning symptoms of a heart attack for both men and women are: Chest pain or discomfort. This blood clot can block the blood flow through the artery to the heart muscle. Ischemia results when the heart muscle is starved for oxygen and nutrients. The process of atherosclerosis has no symptoms.
When a coronary artery narrows and constricts blood flow, other nearby blood vessels that serve the heart sometimes expand to compensate, which may explain why there are no warning signs. Such a network of expanded nearby blood vessels is called collateral circulation, and it helps protect some people from heart attacks by delivering needed blood to the heart.
Collateral circulation can also develop after a heart attack to help the heart muscle recover. When a heart attack occurs, the heart muscle that has lost blood supply begins to suffer injury. The amount of damage to the heart muscle depends on the size of the area supplied by the blocked artery and the time between injury and treatment. Heart muscle damaged by a heart attack heals by forming scar tissue. It usually takes several weeks for your heart muscle to heal.
The length of time depends on the extent of your injury and your own rate of healing. The heart is a very tough organ. Even though a part of it may have been severely injured, the rest of the heart keeps working. But, because of the damage, your heart may be weakened, and unable to pump as much blood as usual. With proper treatment and lifestyle changes after a heart attack, further damage can be limited or prevented.
Learn more about heart damage detection. The heart muscle begins to heal soon after a heart attack. It usually takes about eight weeks to heal. Scar tissue may form in the damaged area, and that scar tissue does not contract or pump as well as healthy muscle tissue. As a consequence, the extent of damage to the heart muscle can impact how well the heart pumps blood throughout the body.
How much pumping function is lost depends on the size and location of the scar tissue. Most heart attack survivors have some degree of coronary artery disease CAD and will have to make important lifestyle changes and possibly take medication to prevent a future heart attack. Taking these steps can help you lead a full, productive life. Print this page.
Your heart attack treatment What happens during a heart attack? Hospital treatment Can I prevent another heart attack? Heart attacks in women. What to do after discharge. Heart attack medication Returning to normal activities The benefits of cardiac rehab Dealing with sleep problems Recognising emotional changes Driving and travel Caring for someone who has had a heart attack. Planning your recovery. Improving your diet Setting recovery goals The benefits of quitting smoking The importance of exercise Relaxation techniques Returning to work Intimacy and sexual activity.
Managing your money. What are the symptoms of heart attack? The major symptoms of a heart attack are Chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back.
The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. Feeling weak, light-headed, or faint. You may also break out into a cold sweat. Pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, or back. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms or shoulders. Shortness of breath. This often comes along with chest discomfort, but shortness of breath also can happen before chest discomfort. What are the risk factors for heart attack? What can I do to recover after a heart attack?
Heart disease and stroke statistics— update: a report from the American Heart Association.
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