Heart Attack Prevention

Overview

Heart attack, also known as Myocardial Infarction (MI) is when there is a cessation of blood flow due to blocking thrombus causing irreversible heart tissue damage. It is also categorized under the umbrella of acute coronary syndrome. It can further complicate into cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock, acute pulmonary oedema, arrhythmia, and heart failure. The risk factors of MI are smoking, alcohol, obesity, increasing age, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. ECG changes to diagnose an MI can be non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) type. However, in both types the cardiac biomarkers will be raised. The acute treatment is thrombolytic therapy, morphine, nitrates, aspirin and clopidogrel. Long term management includes statin, beta-blockers and lifestyle modification.