Heart Attacks, Cardiac Arrests and Indians
Note:
Makkaley idhu koncham serious post but hopefully urupadyana post.
Heart Attack
We all know at least one person in our family and friends circle who has suffered from or succumbed to heart attack. Heart attack or technically Myocardial Infarction(MI) occurs when an area of heart muscle dies or is permanently damaged because of an inadequate supply of oxygen to that area.
A clot in the coronary artery interrupts the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart muscle, leading to the death of heart cells in that area. The damaged heart muscle loses its ability to contract, and the remaining heart muscle needs to compensate for that weakened area.
If the blood supply is cut off for more than a few minutes, muscle cells suffer permanent injury and die. This can kill or disable someone, depending on how much heart muscle is damaged.
An estimated 12 out of 100 people living in cities; and seven out of 100 in rural India suffer from heart disease. By one estimate, 60 percent of the world’s coronary heart patients will be in India by 2010.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Our heart has two main systems that help it run efficiently. First, our heart is a pump. It has a network of pipes (blood vessels) along with some valves and pumping chambers. A heart attack is a problem with the heart’s plumbing system.
The heart also has a complicated electrical system. The heart generates its own electricity and uses this electricity to run the pumps causing them to contract and relax in the proper timing sequence.
Just as our heart can experience a plumbing problem, it also can experience different electrical problems.
SCA is an electrical malfunction in the heart. Cardiac arrests occur when the electrical impulses in the diseased heart become rapid or chaotic or both. This irregular heart rhythm causes the heart to suddenly stop beating. Some cardiac arrests are due to extreme slowing of the heart.
If heart attack is a high profile killer disease, it’s cousin is equally deadly if not deadlier.
One can survive a heart attack but it is almost impossible to survive a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (95% of SCA is fatal). Whats more it is low profile. SCA victims are invariably passed of as “massive heart attack” victims.
It can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, physical fitness, etc. But people with previous heart condition (invariably CAD) are at a particularly high risk for SCA.
Brain death and permanent death start to occur in just four to six minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest.
What is the way out?
SCA can be reversed, but only if treated within minutes with an electrical shock via an automated external defibrillator (AED) or with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). But since that is impossible when under attack, it is imperative to opt for ICD to prevent. One famous person with ICD implanted is Dick Cheney.
ICD
An Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) is a small implantable device that looks similar to a pacemaker. While pacemakers can speed up a slow heart rate, ICDs were designed to slow down a fast heart rate. In addition, many ICDs also contain a built-in full-featured pacemaker. So ICD is a super set of pacemaker.
Research shows that ICDs provide an invaluable form of life insurance for people most at risk. Evidence-based medicine has demonstrated that ICDs significantly reduce death.
Despite these statistics, ICDs are underutilized. Fewer than 20% of currently indicated patients receive the benefits of an ICD despite being at high risk for sudden death (this is in developed countries, so we can guestimate the status in India)
The ICD delivers electrical therapy-pacing pulses or defibrillation therapy as necessary. When not needed, the ICD merely monitors the heart without delivering any electrical energy.
Why this post?
Several reasons. One, the scenario is grim for Indians. India will be the hub of coronary heart disease patients in the years to come. Today, the average age in which a person may suffer a heart attack has come down from 40 years to 30 years in India. And this is mainly a result of today’s changing lifestyles. Indians have smaller arteries than Caucasians which makes us even more vulnerable. India is also a hub for diabetics. And chronic diabetes can lead to heart condition.
We, the blogging population are generally from the comfy placed layers of the society. Talking about ICD will help in arriving at a decision as to whether any of our loved ones are in need of it. Of course after consulting the doctor.
The point is, if we are in a position to afford it, lack of awareness/information alone should not result in sudden cardiac death to any of our loved ones.
Last but not the least. I lost my dad 5 years back to this combined HA-SCA menace.
August 31st, 2005 at 4:45 pm
very good post PK. romba urupadiyaana post as you said. i haven’t heard abt this ICD before.. thanks for the info.
August 31st, 2005 at 5:10 pm
@chakra
Thanks.
September 1st, 2005 at 2:39 am
Useful Info. One of the reasons for the Heart Disease is the consumption of oil with Trans fatty Acids, which are worser than Saturated Fat . Dont know , why Olive is not grown in India , whose oil is one of the Best for Consumption. ( May be Weather factors?) Modern Researches show that Consumption of Onion and Garlic lowers the Heart Attack risk.
September 1st, 2005 at 10:03 am
Good post Prabu. I think the age limit has become lower at least here. I’ve seen 20ish year olds, not even obese with high cholestrols and victims of a heart attack.
September 1st, 2005 at 2:29 pm
@katpadi
i hear even wine is good
the post is as much abt ICD as its about heart attack
September 1st, 2005 at 2:30 pm
@visit
20 ish? thats bad. i ‘ved heard that triglycerides - a type of harm causing choleserol can be up due to hereditary reasons…
December 6th, 2006 at 2:40 am
I recently published an article on AEDs – here is a quote from it, in case you are interested:
Statistics give us more and more pieces of information that are bound to worry us, to make us react and change something if we can. More and more people and in earlier and earlier stages of their life die of a heart disease. Statistics, only in the US, are extremely alarming:
- Every 30 seconds someone dies because of a heart disease;
- More than 2.500 Americans die daily because of heart diseases;
- Every 20 seconds there is a person dying from a heart attack;
- Each year 6 million people are hospitalized because of a heart disease;
- The number 1 killer is a heart disease.
Although AEDs are not a universal panacea for all heart diseases, nothing else can compete to its major feature, that of actually re-starting the heart after it has been stopped by a sudden cardiac arrest. Under these circumstances is it necessary to ask you why anyone in this world, any family, in any home would hope for having such a device in their first aid locker?
If you feel this helps, please drop by my website for additional information, such as Public Access Defibrillation PAD or additional resources on AED manufacturers such as Philips defibrillators, Zoll AEDs or Cardiac Science AEDs.
Regards,
Michael
January 31st, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Whether the truth, what garlic is useful to heart and whether the garlick extract in capsules as well as fresh garlic is so effective? WBR LeoP