Approximately 7 million people around the world die from heart attacks every year and cardiovascular disease, which causes heart attacks and other problems like strokes is the world's leading killer.
But, what causes a heart attack?
Like all muscles, the heart needs oxygen and during a heart attack, it cannot get enough. Fatty deposits also known as plaques develop on the walls of our coronary arteries. Those are the vessels that supply oxygenated blood to the heart. these plaques grow as we age, sometimes getting chunky, hardened, or inflamed.
Eventually, these plaques can turn into blockages.
If one of the plaques ruptures or cracks, a blood clot will form around it in minutes, and a partially closed artery can become completely blocked.
Blood flow is cut off to the cardiac muscles and the oxygen-starved cells start to die within several minutes. This is a Myocardial Infarction/Heart Attack.
Things can rapidly deteriorate in the absence of treatment. The injured muscle may not be able to pump blood and its rhythm might be thrown off. In the worst-case scenario, a heart attack can cause sudden death.
Comments