Heart Attack Causes

With one million people in US suffering from heart attacks every year, no one needs an introduction for this cardiovascular disease. It is one of the leading causes of death across the globe, especially in the western countries. In America, heart attack statistics reveal that number of deaths resulted due to this complication is higher than those caused by other severe diseases. By the way, what causes a heart attack? Are heart attack causes in women the same as those in men? Scroll down, to learn all about the causal reasons for heart attacks along with the risk factors.

Reasons Behind Heart Attack

Medically referred to as myocardial infarction, heart attack is a medical complication associated with permanent death of cardiac muscles, and leading to various life-threatening symptoms. For normal functioning of the human heart, blood containing oxygen is continuously fed to the cardiac muscles with the help of arteries. In a patient having heart attack, blood supply in the arteries is either reduced or stopped, which then lead to medical complications. When it comes to cases of heart attacks, doctors often talk about mild heart attack and massive heart attack.

Speaking of mild heart attack causes, deposits on the arterial walls (atherosclerosis) narrow down the blood vessels causing partial blockage. As a result, blood flow is not stopped completely, but it is disturbed in a sporadic manner. In majority of the reported massive heart attack cases, the prime cause is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). What happens in coronary artery disease is, one or more arteries that supply blood (and oxygen) to the heart are clogged due to deposition of fatty substances (plaques) on the inner walls.

The plaques become hard on outer side and develop fissures. Gradually, blood cells get accumulated in the cracks, forming thrombus or blood clots, and blocking the flow of blood. As a consequence, the normal blood flow to the heart is cut off totally, and part of the cardiac muscles (myocardium) do not receive blood as they should, for normal heart functioning. Over time, these muscles become dead (infarction), a condition called massive heart attack. Another cause for heart attacks is unusual spasms in the coronary artery, which may sporadic blood supply to heart muscles.

Understanding mild and massive heart attack causes in detail will go a long way in minimizing the risk factors. That way, one will succeed in avoiding life-threatening heart attack symptoms. Out of the total heart attack cases, approximately 25 percent are silent attacks. As the term goes, silent heart attack symptoms are vague and unclear. But, they are more serious, as myocardial infarction can occur without manifestation of prominent signs.

In any case, early diagnosis and timely treatment are imperative to restore normal functioning of the heart muscles. While mild heart attack treatment encompasses making lifestyle changes and taking medications, patients having massive heart attack hardly survive, but they die on their way to hospital. Thus, treatment is focused on taking precautions and preventing massive heart attacks from occurring.

Heart Attack Risk Factors

With reference to the World Health Organization's study report published in 2002, approximately 49 percent of the heart attack patients have a medical history of hypertension. Well, this is just one risk of myocardial infarction, and there are many more in the list.

• Old age (above 65 years)
• Being male gender
• Obesity
• Excessive smoking
• High blood pressure
• High blood sugar level (diabetes)
• High cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia)
• High triglyceride levels
• Mental stress
• Family history of heart attacks
• Alcoholism
• Drug abuse

To be more precise, the root cause of heart attack in both men and women is buildup of plaque (cholesterol and other cells) on the inner side of the blood vessels, which leads to narrowing and/or clogging effects. Remember that any form of heart disease can be accompanied with sudden cardiac arrest, leading to death of the patient. So, one should identify the triggering factors and avoid them as far as possible.