How is heart attack treated?

Modern medicine is able to treat Heart Attacks efficiently, so that patients could recover and return to their previous activities. For centuries, doctors were treating heart diseases with natural remedies (digitalis), but nowadays they have a bigger variety of medications to choose from. The aims of heart disease treatment points to the following targets:

• Controlling Blood Pressure, reducing the strain on the heart
• Influencing the heart rhythms, slowing it or preventing abnormal rhythms (fibrillation)
• Reducing the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques and preventing their appearances
• Improving the blood-flow through the coronaries by dilating the arteries or other mechanisms
• Improving blood-flow, stopping clots formation and preventing heart attack

Below, I want to list the most common cardiac drugs that are used in treating heart attack and preventing it. If you are interested in using them, you should consult this with your doctor who supervises your health condition.

• Thrombolytic drugs
• Beta-blockers
• Nitrates, Nitroglicerine
• Aspirin and antiplatelets
• Statins
• Anticoagulants

Thrombolytic drugs

In the past decade, due to the constant improvement of this drugs were achieved important results, especially in heart attack treatment. Thrombolytics act to dissolve clots formed in coronary artery and trigger heart attack. If you already suffered a Myocardial Infarction, thrombolytic therapy may be continued to prevent other heart attacks and decrease the risks. The success of treatment depends on time when. If the drug is given quickly - the chances to reverse the ischemic process in the myocardium are greater - thrombus will be dissolved and the blood/flow will be restored through the arteries. So, talking about thrombolytics, we can say the earlier the treatment starts - the better The most wide-used thrombolytic is Aspirin - a cheap and effective drug. However, overdoses with thrombolytics may lead to large hemorrhages and brain stroke in significant number of patients.
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Beta-blockers

Beta-blockers work by blocking the effects of Stress Hormone. Stress hormones are produced daily and constantly depending on our activities, emotional status. After they are released into the blood flow, they force the heart to pump faster and forcefully. Beta-blockers are used to avoid the negative effects of these hormones - increasing the heart pulse, narrowing the coronaries nd reducing the oxygen volume to the myocardium.
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Nitrates, Nitroglicerine

They dilate the coronaries and this improves the blood flow to the heart muscle. This, is also helpful in angina relieving. GTN (Glyceryl Trinitrate or Nitro) is a common used drug, in tiny pils patients put under their tongues during the angina attack. Nitrates are helpful in heart failure, as they reduce the heart constraints. Nitroglycerine is a cheap drug and affordable. It is easy to keep it always at you and in case you feel discomfort and chest pain, angina, you take 1 - 2 pills under the tongue and the effect of relief returns in minutes.
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Aspirin and antiplatelets

They prevent blood clotting and agglutination by reducing the stickiness of the erythrocytes. Aspirin may reduce the risks of a Heart Attack by 25% and it's cheap, so it is convenient. Discuss this with your doctor if you think it may be a solution for your heart disorders. You may want to read more about aspirin doses in Heart Attack - I have an article written on this, so check it, too.
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Statins

Remedies used to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by lowering them, the chances of developing CHD decrease. I'll remember you that CHD is actually considered to the main cause of Heart Attack occurrence, so, I could say, statins reduce the risk of a Heart Attack
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Anticoagulants

You can't establish by yourself the necessary dose of anticoagulants you need, nut your doctor can. He/she can choose from a very wide range of drugs, which main characteristic is that they inhibit clotting, especially in fibrillation. Anticoagulants should be prescribed carefully, otherwise there is the risk that a blood clots to rupture and shift to the cerebral arteries, causing a cerebral stroke.
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All these medications have side effects which in time settle down and sometimes even can be ignored. But overdoses may be harmful and cause irreversible disorders or even death - anticoagulants may lead to severe bleedings and liquefying the blood causes an increased permeability of arteries, especially the brain ones, lungs. These effects may lead to strokes, edema. Heart medications usage must be supervised by a specialized physician, who can be contacted in case you encounter some unexpected effects.

Updated: January, 27 2010 08:42:56

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