By: Dave Warner
Heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest have one big thing in common – they are both very, very serious health issues.
But they are also very different issues, caused by different conditions, and these days, cardiac arrest is more likely to kill you.
Indeed, cardiac arrest kills some 300,000 people in the United States annually – more than a long list of more well-known diseases, like breast and lung cancer.
In cardiac arrest, your heart stops. Unless you get immediate, emergency help you may be dead in 8 to 10 minutes. Some 95 percent of the people who experience cardiac arrest die from it.
It is caused by an electrical malfunction in your body -- your heart suffers from an irregular heartbeat, called arrhythmia. That means blood doesn’t go to your brain and other organs. People who are struck with cardiac arrest need almost immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation as well as jolts from an external defibrillator to restore cardiac rhythm.
All of this is a different experience than having a heart attack. For one thing, the heart does not normally stop during a heart attack, a condition caused by blockage in blood vessels, meaning the heart can’t get blood. In the process, part of the heart muscle dies. Once upon a time, a heart attack was often fatal. But with more people now being aware of heart attack symptoms, and with better treatment, that is no longer the case – most heart attack patients now survive.
Coronary artery disease, which can lead to a heart attack, can also make you more likely to be hit with sudden cardiac arrest too. Indeed, some 80 percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest also have coronary artery disease.
One other big difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest: while some have heart attacks with no prior symptoms, it is common that victims experience any one of many symptoms beforehand – chest pain, shortness or breathe and sweating among them. But those who suffer sudden cardiac arrest typically get no warning.
Sudden cardiac arrest often strikes with no warning. When it does strike, however, the symptoms are drastic. They include sudden collapse, lack of a pulse, loss of breathing and loss of consciousness.
Some victims may see some signs in advance –fatigue, vomiting, palpitations, and blackouts among them.
Heart attacks, on the other hand, are often preceded by a long list of possible symptoms, including:
- Chest pain that can extend to your arms, back, jaws or even teeth or chest pressure.
- Shortness of breath.
- Sweating.
- Fainting.
- Nausea.
Heart attack symptoms vary from person to person, and some people have no symptoms at all.
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