What Is A Heart Attack?

  In order to understand what a heart attack is,we first have to understand how our heart works and what does it need in order to work properly.

  Our heart is a very powerful muscular pump that drives the oxygen and nutrients rich blood to every cell in our body via the blood vessels and it also carries away the CO2 and other waste that results in the cellular respiration process.It (the heart) beats around 100.000 times and it pumps about 9000 litres of blood each day,working constantly,without ever pausing to rest.

   Like any other muscle in the body,the heart muscle  needs a good and constant supply of oxygen and nutrients rich blood ,which is done via the coronary arteries:the right coronary artery and the left coronary artery .The coronary arteries branch off from the base of the aorta,which is the main artery that carries the rich oxygen blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

  When one of this coronary arteries becomes blocked by a blood clot or a  spasm,the blood stops flowing to a section of the heart,causing the heart cells that are starved of oxygen to die.

  This process is called myocardial infarction and is more commonly known as a heart attack.

    What are the symptoms of a heart attack??

  The most common heart attack symptoms are sudden chest pains or discomfort(can feel like a sensation of pressure,tightness or squeezing) ,which can be mild or severe and lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back.

    Chest pain can be accompanied by upper body pain or discomfort in one or both arms(usually the left arm),back,neck,jaw and abdomen.

   Other symptoms include shortness of  breath, feeling and being sick, cold sweating, vomiting, palpitations, anxiety(like having a panic attack).

    The symptoms may be different to each person,many people experiencing the so called "silent" heart attack which is without chest pain or other symptoms.

   Women may experience fewer symptoms than man,most typical  for them being a shortness of breath,weakness and fatigue and a feeling of indigestion.