Heart Attack Description
A heart attack results from the heart’s inability to pump blood and oxygen to the heart muscle – myocardium. When this occurs, a part of the myocardium scars and dies. It is commonly known as a myocardial infarction.
When a blood vessel supplying the heart is clotted or blocked, the heart cannot function properly. Blockages occur gradually or abruptly.
Heart Attack Symptoms
The pain associated with a heart attack is called angina. While there are various reasons for chest pain, heart pain is specifically indicative of a possible heart attack.
Due to the gravity of its effects, when medical practitioners assess chest pain or heart pain, an imminent or occurring heart attack is always assumed.
Symptoms
- Heart Attack Pain
- Chest Pain
- Arm Pain
- Upper Back Pain
- Jaw Pain
- Toothache
- Headache
- Heart Attack Malaise
- Fatigue
- Shortness of Breath
- Indigestion
- Nausea
- Excessive Sweating
Be aware symptoms may not manifest. Around 50% of patients who develop heart attacks experience the warning symptoms.
If blood and oxygen are not restored to the heart within 20 minutes, irreversible effects will begin to occur. The heart attack will continue for approximately 8 hours and by then, it will have literally killed heart cells and tissue permanently.
Heart Attack Victims and Causes
Individuals more prone to heart attacks are people with a family history or personal history of heart disease, people with unbalanced cholesterol levels, diabetics, smokers, men, and individuals exposed to Trasylol and gadolinium.
History. People with relatives – within the first degree – who have experienced a heart attack are more likely to have one.
Blood Cholesterol. High levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol both increase the likelihood of a heart attack. Cholesterol forms plaques inside blood vessels – this is called atherosclerosis. When these plaques erupt, the body reacts by clotting blood around them.
Diabetes. Due to different body chemistry, diabetics are more prone to atherosclerosis.
Tobacco. Tobacco smoke damages blood vessel walls, increases the forming of blood vessel plaques.
Men. Males are more prone to develop atherosclerosis and heart disease.
Trasylol. Bayer Pharmaceuticals markets the protein aprotinin as the drug Trasylol. Studies have shown that patients given Trasylol for surgery are more likely to die from heart attacks.
Gadolinium. Manufactured by several pharmaceutical companies, compounds of this drug cause nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, a disease that scars the parts of the heart, and thus induces heart attacks.
Note that some of the factors above are not preventable, while others are.
Concerning the cases of trasylol and gadolinium exposure, consult a doctor immediately. Many heart attacks and other physiological problems occur 30 days after exposure to these drugs, but some happen only days after. Exposure to both drugs may prove lethal.
If you report the incidence of trasylol or gadolinium poisoning to the attorneys at Babbitt-Johnson, their legal teams will provide you with free legal consultation. It is imperative to consult a physician as soon as possible. Babbitt-Johnson attorneys, specializing in aprotinin and Trasylol cases, offer free legal consultations and advice on the best legal recourses.
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