What is Heart Attack?
A heart attack is the death of the heart muscle due to a loss of blood supply caused by blockage in one or more of the coronary arteries. It is also known by other terms like myocardial infarction, acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion (1✔).
Heart attacks can be life-threatening; therefore, it is important to be aware of warning signs. Most people who die of a heart attack die within the first hour after the onset of the symptoms. Hence, it is important to identify the symptoms of a heart attack and seek immediate medical attention to lessen the amount of damage to the heart and prevent death.
Measures like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and thrombolytic drugs (clot buster), when given early during the onset of the heart attack, can help save the patient’s life (2✔).
10 Interesting Facts about Heart Attacks
Statistics on Heart Attacks
- A heart attack is one of the leading causes of unexpected deaths in the U.S. It is estimated that every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a heart attack (3✔).
- It has emerged as the No.1 killer disease in both rural and urban areas. Every year, 17.9 million lives are lost to this dreaded disease (4✔).
- Heart disease is the single largest cause of death in India. It has been estimated that 80% of all cardiovascular disease deaths have occurred in lower-middle-income countries (5✔).
- Every year, approximately 805,000 Americans are estimated to have heart attacks. Of these, almost 605,000 people have had a heart attack for the first time, while rest 200,000 people, have already had their first heart attack (6✔).
- Approximately 7.6 million people are estimated to be living with some form of cardiovascular disease in U.K. Every 3 minutes, someone in the UK has a heart attack (7✔).
- Heart attacks have been the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. Every year, 1 in 5 American women dies of heart disease (8✔).
- Almost two-thirds (64%) of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms, which means that even if you have no symptoms of a heart attack, you may still be at risk of developing one (9✔).
- According to the Women’s Heart Foundation (WHF), women who are less than 50 are twice as likely to die from a heart attack as men of the same age range, mostly because women are more likely to ignore warning signs (10✔).
Silent Heart Attack
- A heart attack may not always occur with the obvious symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath, or cold sweats. It can happen to individuals without any indication; thereby it is sometimes also referred to as a silent heart attack (
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Coronary Artery Disease
- Coronary artery disease is considered to be the most common cause of heart attack, whereas severe spasm or contraction of the coronary artery is a lesser known cause (12✔).
