Stroke, Heart Attack and Cardiac Arrest – What are the Main Distinctions Among Them

Besides being acquainted with the distinct symptoms heart stroke, heart attack and cardiac arrest imply, it is important to be aware how they develop, and the further risks they embody, especially as they are common health conditions nowadays. If you inform yourself accordingly, you might even diminish the possibility of suffering from any of these conditions in the foreseeable future. Therefore, informing yourself is the right thing to do.

Heart Attack – Reduced to No Blood Supply to the Heart

• Heart attacks occur when the main artery to the heart is blocked, thus hindering the blood pumping operation to the core; this artery’s function is to pump blood throughout the entire body;
• Cholesterol accumulation on the inside wall of the blood vessels may determine the occurrence of heart attack;
• The blocked artery is ought to be released immediately, if not, the person suffering from heart attack will present severe heart damage in the future;
• The immediate symptoms announcing a heart attack are: chocking sensation in the chest, pain expanding to the arms, back and shoulders, impossibility of breathing, anxiety, sweating;
• In comparison with cardiac arrest, the heart does not cease beating during a heart attack;
• Risk factors consist of: obesity, sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, improper diet, high level of cholesterol, high blood pressure, genetic history, stress, aging, gender – men are more likely to suffer from heart attacks than women.

Cardiac Arrest – Diminished Heart Beat, Oxygen no longer Reaches Your Vital Organs 

• It is caused by suddenly diminished heart muscle beating, as a result of electrical malfunction in the heart;
• Irregular heart beat, namely arrhythmia, is determined by the improper function of the heart’s electrical system;
• Oxygen fails to reach your vital organs; therefore, the proper oxygenation of your brain is deterred, resulting in cell death. This can cause an imminent death in just a matter of minutes to the person suffering from cardiac arrest;
• General symptoms that may announce a cardiac arrest are: impossibility of proper breathing, convulsions, lethargy;
• Risk factors imply: drug and alcohol addiction, smoking, genetic history, age, hyperthyroidism, pulmonary hypertension, diabetes, obesity, lack of physical activity.

Stroke – Interrupted Blood Flow to the Brain

• The process of brain oxygenation is vital, if the brain is no longer provided with oxygen, cells begin to die; this is what happens during a stroke: blood is no longer pumped to the brain;
• A stroke appears as a result of an existing clot in the blood vessels of your brain. As the clot is growing, it will eventually reduce the blood supply to the brain significantly;
• Immediate treatment can lower the death rate, while at the same time it can prevent further complications such as paralysis.
• Symptoms announcing a stroke are: unprecedented excruciating headache, difficulty in speaking, numbness of your body (partly or on the whole), dizziness, weariness;
• Risk factors imply: poor blood circulation, improper diet, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, alcohol or drug addiction, diabetes, genetic history, age, race – black people are doubly prone to suffering from strokes, gender – men are more predisposed to having strokes, cardiovascular disease, using hormone based therapies – including birth control pills.