HEART ATTACK – What it actually is

The heart has small arteries on the outside which feed the heart muscle and supply it with oxygen and nutrients. These arteries are known as coronary arteries. If a coronary artery suddenly blocks due to a clot, this is known as a “coronary thrombosis” or is abbreviated to “ a coronary”. When a coronary artery develops a clot in it, the area of heart muscle it supplies  becomes starved of oxygen, causes it’s owner a great deal of pain- heavy, dull pain as if a sumo wrestler has just sat upon your chest, and ultimately that area of heart muscle dies. This is known as a Heart Attack. Some persons will have massive damage to the heart as a result of the clot, and die, whilst others have enough normal heart muscle which is supplied by other arteries to recover and lead normal lives. Others again, will have life-threatening irregularities of the heart rhythm during the 1^st 48hrs after a heart attack and die because of a rhythm disturbance. This is why it is essential for a person who has suffered from a heart attack to be hospitalized as soon as possible.