Early treatment can prevent or at least limit damage to the heart muscles. Acting fast, at the first symptoms of heart attack, can save your life.
Heart attack treatment
It is always best to reach for treatment within one hour of your first symptom.
Treatment for heart attack begins once your doctor suspects it even before confirming it.
- Oxygen to nourish affected muscles due to lack of oxygen
- Aspirin is used to prevent further blood clot
- Nitroglycerin, to reduce the workload on the heart and improve blood flow through the coronary arteries
- Treatment for chest pain
Once the diagnosis confirms or suspect’s heart attack, then begin the treatment to restore blood flow to the heart. Treatments may include medicines and medical procedures.
Medicines for Heart attack treatment
Different kinds of medicines used to treat heart attack include the following.
Thrombolytic Medicines - Otherwise call as a clot busters, are useful to dissolve blood clots that are blocking the coronary arteries. These medicines are most effective, when given within one hour after the start of heart attack symptoms.
Beta Blockers - Decrease the workload to your heart, beta blockers can be useful to relieve chest pain or discomfort and helps to prevent additional heart attacks. Beta-blocker can also correct irregular heartbeats.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors - ACE inhibitors can lower your blood pressure and reduce strain on the heart. It also helps to slow down further weakening of the heart muscle.
Anticoagulants - It makes the blood thinner and prevents clots from forming in your arteries.
Antiplatelet Medicines - Medicines such as aspirin and clopidogrel can help to stop platelets, a type of blood cell from clumping together, and forming unwanted clots.
Medical Procedures for heart attack treatment
If medicines cannot stop a heart attack, medical procedures such as surgical or non-surgical may be used. These procedures include the following.
Angioplasty - A non-surgical procedure can be useful to open coronary arteries that blocks by a blood clot. In angioplasty, a catheter (a thin, flexible plastic tube) with a balloon on the end is inserting through a blood vessel to the blocked coronary artery. Now, inflate the balloon so that it pushes the plaque against the wall. Then leave small stents in the artery to help keep it open the stents has medicinal coating to prevent the arteries block again. Deflate and remove the balloon after placing the stents in position. This widens the arteries and thus restoring blood flow.
Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting - It is a surgical procedure in which take arteries or veins from other areas of, the body and put in place to bypass (go around) blocked coronary arteries. This provides a new way for blood flow to the heart muscle.
Cardiac rehabilitation
Once discharged from the hospital after a heart attack treatment, do not think the treatment is over. At home, your treatment may include daily medicines and cardiac rehabilitation that may include lifestyle changes, including:
- Quitting smoking,
- Losing weight,
- Changing your diet,
- Increasing your physical activity,
Cardiac rehabilitation is to lower your chances of having another heart attack and fully recovered from your heart attack.