Many people in their 40s and 50s have misinformation regarding heart disease. In this age group, the number of deaths due to myocardial infarction increases as the stress and overwork accumulated from work life react at once. Let’s take a look at the common misconceptions regarding heart disease.
Heart attack is the name of the disease?
Recently, whenever a celebrity dies, many media report ‘heart attack’ as the cause of death, but heart attack literally means that the heart has stopped and is not a disease. Myocardial infarction seems to have a similar meaning, but the medical meaning is slightly different. Infarction medically means that an artery is blocked, the function of an organ or tissue deteriorates, and cells die. Myocardial infarction is when a coronary artery is blocked by a blood clot (thrombosis), causing the heart muscle to die and stop functioning. On the other hand, cardiac death is distinguished from ‘brain death’ in which the brain does not function as the heart stops.
Sudden death is myocardial infarction?
Myocardial infarction, in which blood vessels in the coronary artery are blocked and blood is not supplied to the heart muscle, or arrhythmia in the electrical system of the heart is broken, are the main causes of sudden death. In the West, sudden deaths caused by heart problems are overwhelmingly common, but in Korea, there are many sudden deaths due to cerebral artery disease. In particular, if the cerebral artery swells up like a ball and bursts, you need to use your hands urgently. Pulmonary artery embolism can also cause sudden death.
Is heart disease different depending on physique?
Sudden death due to heart disease, such as myocardial infarction or arrhythmia, often occurs in patients with atherosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis is most common in overweight people. People who have accumulated a lot of cholesterol in their intestines, even if they are thin on the outside, are prone to hardening of blood vessels. People who stay away from exercise and smoke and drink alcohol cannot be relieved of heart disease even if they are not obese on the outside.
Signs come before heart disease?
When a coronary artery disease such as arteriosclerosis occurs first and develops into myocardial infarction or arrhythmia, symptoms such as chest pain appear. On the other hand, when arrhythmia occurs alone without coronary artery disease due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which has a large genetic component, symptoms rarely appear, so it is good to receive regular health checkups.
Sudden death only comes following middle age?
The incidence of myocardial infarction increases with age, especially explosively from the age of 40. Recently, the number of people in their 30s who are dying due to myocardial infarction is rapidly increasing. It is estimated that obesity is increasing due to the spread of Western-style eating habits. If you have a heart disease patient in your family or have been obese since childhood, you should make efforts such as not smoking and eating habits to prevent diabetes and hyperlipidemia so that lumps do not form on the walls of the arteries of the heart.