Cardiac Arrest: Signs, Symptoms, Treatment
The heart either stops beating or beats too quickly, cutting off the flow of blood to the brain and the rest of the body. Because of this, people with cardiac arrest pass out and stop responding.
Every time the heart beats, it sends out an electrical impulse. When this pattern of electrical impulses changes quickly, the heartbeat becomes erratic, and the heart stops beating. This makes it hard for the heart to pump oxygen-rich blood to the brain and the rest of the body.
If you don’t treat cardiac arrest right away, it can kill you. This is called cardiac arrest, when the heart stops pumping blood around the body. Here, we’ll talk about the signs, symptoms, and causes of a cardiac arrest and what to do if you see someone having one.
Cardiac arrest is a severe heart problem that happens when the heart stops pumping blood around the body. If you have a cardiac arrest, you will stop breathing and almost immediately lose consciousness. Cardiac arrest will kill the person if nothing is done within minutes.
What causes cardiac arrest?
Ventricular fibrillation is the most common cause of a heart stop (VF). In VF, the heart’s electrical activity is all over the place. This makes the heart quiver, or “fibrillate,” instead of beating normally. VF can be caused by several problems with the heart, such as:
A heart attack
Heart disease in the arteries (atherosclerosis)
Heart failure
Some problems with the way the heart beats, like Long QT syndrome.
Ventricular fibrillation can also be caused by things that have nothing to do with heart disease, like:
Stopping breathing or choking
Electrocution
A lot of blood loss, like a hemorrhage
Reaction to an allergy
Drowning Drug overdose.
What are the symptoms and signs of a heart attack?
Cardiac arrest
Many people don’t have any warning signs before their heart stops beating. But some people do have some cardiac arrest symptoms before their heart stops beating.
Some of these are:
Chest pain
Dizziness
Palpitations
Fainting
Breathlessness.
If someone has had a cardiac arrest before, they will be:
Unconscious
Unresponsive
Not taking in air.
Sudden cardiac arrest is usually caused by an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia). This is because the electric impulses in the heart don’t work right, which makes the heart beat in strange ways. During a cardiac arrest, the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm is rapid or erratic electrical impulses in the heart’s lower chamber. This is also called “ventricle fibrillation.” Here are some heart conditions that can lead to a cardiac arrest:
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) happens when the blood vessels that bring the blood, oxygen, and food to the heart become blocked or damaged. It is also one of the most common reasons a heart stops beating.
Valvular Heart Disease: When the heart valves get smaller, the heart muscle can get thicker, leading to a heart attack.
Cardiomyopathy: People with too big hearts are more likely to stop beating suddenly.
Congenital Heart Disease: One of the things that can cause sudden cardiac arrest is a heart defect that was present at birth.
Electrical Problems: Scientists have found that problems with the heart’s electrical system can also lead to cardiac arrest.
Cardiac arrest Treatments
When someone has a cardiac arrest, they need help immediately to get their heart beating again and back to its normal rhythm. Some of these are:
CPR stands for “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.”
CPR is one of the most important things to do if someone has a heart attack. Tight chest compressions are used to imitate the pumping action of the heart. It helps move a small amount of blood from the heart to the brain.
Defibrillator: The treatment for cardiac arrest is called “advanced care.” The automatic defibrillator gives the heart an electric shock to get it to start beating again. Healthcare practitioners and people who have undergone an AED Course in Markham would know how to use an AED to treat cardiac arrest symptoms.
Once the patient recovers from the cardiac arrest, the doctor will discuss different tests to determine what happened. The doctor may also recommend the following treatment to lower the chance of a future cardiac arrest:
Medication: When arrhythmia causes problems, doctors will give you different anti-arrhythmic drugs. The doctor may also give you beta-blockers, blood thinners, nitrates, and other medicines to prevent a future cardiac arrest.
In coronary angioplasty, the doctor uses a catheter to put a small balloon into an artery that is blocked or narrowed. The balloon is then blown up, and a mesh-like tube made of metal (called a stent) is put into the artery and left there permanently.
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD): This is a portable device that checks the rhythm of the heart. The ICD is put near the left collarbone, and the wires are connected to the heart through the veins. The device keeps an eye on the signals. If it notices a change in the heart’s rhythm, it sends low-energy or high-energy shocks to get the heart back to its normal rhythm.
In coronary bypass surgery, the doctor removes a healthy blood vessel from the body, usually from the leg, chest, or arm. The doctor then sews the veins or arteries beyond the narrowed artery to make a new path for the blood to get to the heart.
What are the risks and side effects of a cardiac stenting?
As with many medical procedures, the medicines or materials used for angioplasty and stenting could cause an allergic reaction. Angioplasty can also cause bleeding, damage to your blood vessel or heart, or an irregular heartbeat. Heart attack, kidney failure, and stroke are rare but possible complications.
Scar tissue can form inside your stent after the surgery. If that happens, it might need a second procedure to get rid of it. There is also the chance that blood clots will form inside your stent. To help stop this, you will need to take medicine. Tell your doctor right away if you have chest pain.
Long-term outlook
Even though stenting can make a big difference, it is not a cure for heart disease. It would help if you still dealt with things like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and being overweight, which all play a role. Your doctor may give you medicine or suggest other ways to deal with these problems.
They might also tell you to:
- eat a well-balanced diet
- exercise regularly, quit smoking
Heart disease can be treated and prevented by controlling your cholesterol and blood pressure and living a heart-healthy lifestyle.
