The heart, the central organ of the circulatory system, consists of atria, ventricles, and heart valves. By contracting the heart muscle about 60 to 80 times per minute, it carries oxygen and nutrients to the blood and flows to each tissue of the body. Because it supplies oxygen through the blood, the heart can be said to be an organ directly related to life. A heart attack is a condition in which the heart stops suddenly when atherosclerosis and blood clots form in the coronary arteries, which supply oxygen and nutrients, to block or harden muscles. When the heart stops functioning, it can cause fatal brain damage due to the interruption of oxygen supply, and in the worst case, it is also a fatal symptom with a risk of death.
The most common cause of heart attack is acute myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, and various heart-related diseases such as angina pectoris. As the coronary arteries become narrower and less elastic due to such heart disease, blood circulation decreases and the risk of heart attack increases. It has also been known to be strongly related to the occurrence of various diseases such as aortic aneurysm rupture and renal rupture. In particular, it is known that the occurrence frequency is high in winter, when cold weather continues, because when blood vessel walls suddenly contract due to low temperature, it is easy to cause abnormalities in blood supply.
In addition, as heart attack is a symptom caused by the formation of atherosclerosis and blood clots in the coronary arteries, a diet focused on high-fat, high-cholesterol food and lack of exercise also have a significant impact on the occurrence. Now, let’s take a closer look at the various prognostic symptoms that appear before a heart attack and various methods that can help prevent it.
Heart attack symptoms
The most common symptom of a heart attack before the onset of a heart attack is chest pain. This chest pain, like squeezing your chest, lasts days to months before the onset of a heart attack. A single outbreak lasts as short as a few minutes and can last longer. In addition, shortness of breath, shortness of breath, feeling of pressure, irregular heartbeat, and very fast beating may appear. It is known that about 70% of heart attack patients experience major symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath. You may also experience pain and discomfort in your neck, shoulders, jaw, and arms. In addition, various symptoms such as dizziness, dizziness, cold sweat, and vomiting along with continuous fatigue are also said to be precursors to the onset of a heart attack.
After a heart attack, it is an emergency, so prompt action and treatment are required. First-aid measures such as artificial respiration and CPR should be performed, and after that, seek emergency treatment at a hospital equipped with facilities and medical personnel as soon as possible. Treatment consists of administration of drugs to remove blood clots or surgical treatment such as angioplasty and bypass surgery through insertion of stents and catheters. If such emergency treatment is delayed or delayed, it can have irreversible consequences leading to death, and even after survival, the risk of brain death due to brain damage increases. Therefore, it is important to visit a hospital and undergo an examination when various symptoms suspected as precursors of a heart attack appear. In particular, if you have heart-related diseases in your family, it is recommended to have regular check-ups every year because there is a high risk of occurrence due to family history. In addition, since heart attack is caused by environmental factors based on various lifestyles, it is very important to check one’s lifestyle and improve the parts that cause worsening of symptoms.
How to prevent a heart attack
1. Smoking cessation and alcohol consumption control
Quitting smoking is the most important way to prevent heart attack. It is important to quit smoking, as various harmful substances such as nicotine and tar that enter the body during smoking constrict peripheral blood vessels, causing an increase in blood pressure, and raising cholesterol and causing the formation of blood clots and plaque. In addition, it is important to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed because excessive drinking also causes damage to the heart and increases the risk of heart attack by increasing cholesterol.
2. Steady aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging, biking, hiking, swimming, and jumping rope 3 or more times a week is also an important management habit in preventing heart attack. In particular, it is necessary to perform these exercises regularly because they help to maintain an appropriate weight by preventing overweight, one of the risk factors for heart attack. For these aerobic exercises, warm-up for 5 to 10 minutes before exercise, and 30 to 60 minutes of actual exercise is the most appropriate form. However, it is recommended to be careful because too much strength training can put too much strain on the heart.
3. Healthy Eating
It is also very important to eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, and seaweed on a regular basis. Various vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber contained in these foods help maintain blood cholesterol in an optimal state and also stabilize blood pressure, so it is important to eat them in a balanced way.
On the other hand, various foods such as fatty meats, processed foods, and fast foods high in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol can cause the formation of plaque and blood clots, which can impede blood flow, so intake should be controlled. . In addition, it is important not to consume too much salt, soy sauce, and soybean paste, and to eat them in an appropriate amount. In addition, excessive stress and insufficient sleep time can also be risk factors for worsening vascular health, so it is important to manage stress properly and continue to get enough rest.
