Medical attention is vital in Heart Attack

Heart Attack is not a process which takes seconds - sometimes it may take hours till the entire sector of heart muscle dies completely. And with every second passing, the chances of resuscitating the affected area of heart are decreasing.

Medical attention and supervising must be searched immediately. If you arrive at the hospital with an ambulance, the staff will be already prepared for you. In case you are brought by someone with a personal car, then pay attention that medical personnel could clearly understand your symptoms and accuses from you or the one who helped you - your pain are, how much time you feel pain, where the pain irradiates.

Also, doctors will indicate some usual medical tests to make a correct diagnosis:

• Blood test - they examine such indicators as Cardiac Enzymes (which appear in the blood in case )
• Electrocardiogram - a safe and painless procedure, recording you heartbeats
• Chest X-Ray This is not always done, but it can show abnormalities in the size or shape of the heart and indicate if fluid is collecting in the lungs, a sign or poor circulation
• Echocardiogram - the ultrasound device transmits the ultrasound waves to a monitor and the physician may examine you heart situation

The most important factor in diagnosing and treating a heart attack is prompt medical attention. Rapid evaluation allows early treatment of potentially life-threatening abnormal rhythms such as ventricular fibrillation and allows early reperfusion (return of blood flow to the heart muscle) by procedures that unclog the blocked coronary arteries. The more rapidly blood flow is reestablished, the more heart muscle that is saved.

Large and active medical centers often have a "chest pain unit" where patients suspected of having heart attacks are rapidly evaluated. If a heart attack is diagnosed, prompt therapy is initiated. If the diagnosis of heart attack is initially unclear, the patient is placed under continuous monitoring until the results of further testing are available.

Updated: January, 17 2008 14:49:08

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