Myocardial Infarction Essay

Myocardial Infarction

Introduction

A myocardial infarction or heart attack, is the death or damage of part of the heart muscle because the supply of blood to the heart is severely reduce or stopped. Myocardial infarction (MI) is the leading cause of death in the United States. More than 1.5 million Americans suffer a myocardial infarction every year, and nearly half a million die, according to the American Heart Association. Most myocardial infarctions are the end result of years of silent, undetected, progressive coronary artery disease. Causes:

One of the most common causes of heart attack is coronary artery disease, where coronary arteries overcome hardened and narrowed to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis refers to the accumulation of

The heart is an organ that is controlled by an electrical system, which is the one that makes you contract in each beat. If a heart attack injury causes an alteration in this circuit, there are so-called cardiac arrhythmias, where the heart does not contract in a rhythmic way, which causes serious consequences at a general level.

 Mechanical insufficiency due to the large amount of area damaged by the infarction, the heart muscle loses part of its function and does not send enough blood to the rest of the body.

 Other Complications as a consequence of the infarction, the following situations can also occur, albeit less frequently: cardiac rupture, ventricular aneurysm (dilation of a zone of the heart that causes a worse functioning of the heart), pulmonary thromboembolism (a blood clot forms Blood that travels to the lung, where it prevents the arrival of blood flow) or pericarditis (inflammation of the heart cover) (2016).

Risk Factors:

 Smoking is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases: myocardial infarction, hypertension, stroke, arteritis of the lower limbs, impotence and thrombosis. These cardiovascular diseases are aggravated in

 Erection problems the formation of a plaque of atheroma in the penile arteries can provoke impotence, also called erectile dysfunction.

 Sex

I. Men are more affected than women.

II. The cardiovascular risk of women reaches that of men after menopause.

 The alcohol consumption in excess represents a risk factor for myocardial infarction and cardiovascular diseases (CCM, 2017).

Prognosis

Experienced emergency care personnel confirm the diagnosis of MI, by taking a thorough history, checking heart rate and blood pressure, performing an electrocardiogram, and drawing a blood sample. The electrocardiogram shows which of the coronary arteries is blocked. The blood test detects the leak of enzymes or other biochemical markers from damaged cells in the heart muscle. In clinical practice, timely treatment is based on the patient history, physical examination, and ECG findings.