More than 1 million Americans have heart attacks each year. A heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), is permanent damage to the heart muscle. Most heart attacks are a result of coronary heart disease – the narrowing of the coronary arteries due to a gradual build-up of fatty material within their walls. This fatty material is called atheroma. If the atheroma becomes unstable, a piece may break off and lead to a blood clot forming. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle itself - the myocardium - is severely reduced or stopped.
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.
Sometimes a coronary artery temporarily contracts or goes into spasm. When this happens the artery narrows and blood flow to part of the heart muscle decreases or stops. We're not sure what causes a spasm. A spasm can occur in normal-appearing blood vessels as well as in vessels partly blocked by atherosclerosis. A severe spasm can also cause a heart attack.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of a heart attack vary from one person to another. They can range from a severe pain in the centre of the chest, to having mild chest discomfort that makes you feel generally unwell. Women may experience different symptoms to men.
The common symptoms of a heart attack include:
- Central chest pain
- The pain can spread to the arms, neck or jaw
- Some people can feel feel sick or sweaty as well as having central chest pain
- Some people can feel short of breath as well as having central chest pain.
- A dull pain, ache or 'heavy' feeling in the chest
- A mild discomfort in the chest that makes you feel generally unwell
- The pain in the chest can spread to the back or stomach
- Some people say that the chest pain feels like a bad episode of indigestion
- Some people can feel a bit light-headed or dizzy as well as having chest pain.
- Stopping smoking.
- Controlling high blood pressure
- Reducing your cholesterol level
- Being physically active
- Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight
- Controlling your blood glucose if you have diabetes
- Eating a healthy, balanced diet and only drinking moderate amounts of alcohol.











