PREVENTING DEATH BY JOINING PALMS

Fortyfive-year-old Prasanna Nyayadheeshwas an acclaimed Cardiology Professor working in the popular KEM Medical College, Mumbai. He saved many affected with heart attack from losing their lives. A complete vegetarian who led an austere life, Nyayadheesh experienced some pain in his heart on reaching home after a workout in the gym and collapsed. Despite living in proximity to a sophisticated hospital and provided with the best treatment, he could not be saved.

Such situations are not rare. People aged between 35-50 years collapse and die suddenly due to heart attack leaving their in families devastated.

WHY DO PEOPLE DIE INSTANTANEOUSLY ON SUFFERING HEART ATTACK?

Heart attack occurs when there are obstructions in the blood vessels and the heart is not supplied with adequate blood.Usually, it occurs due to coagulation of blood in the blood vessels. Lack of sufficient blood supply damages the muscles in the heart leading to irregular heartbeat, called ventricular fibrillation in medical jargon.In fact, the heart stops beating at this stage.Supply of blood to important body parts also gets blocked. When blood supply to the brain, which is a very important organ, gets blocked for 3-5 minutes, it gets damaged irreparably.Even if the heart resumes beating normally after some time, the brain might not begin functioning and  the person is consideredbrain dead.When the person dies within an hourof being brain dead, it is called sudden cardiac death.

HOW CAN WE IDENTIFY THE ISSUE IN THE INITIAL STAGE?

Dr. C. Raghu, Cardiologist at Aster Prime Hospitals, Hyderabad, says pain is experienced in the heart when there is irregular blood supply. This pain manifests as heaviness in the heart and can spread to the left side of the shoulder and even to the throat, leading to problems in breathing. However, these symptoms might not be experienced  in 10 per cent of those suffering heart attack. They might suffer from other symptoms like:

1.            Experiencing a pull in both the arms

 2.            Burning sensation in the stomach and a bloated  feeling

 3.            Pain in the tooth

 4.            Dizziness and falling unconscious

Even these symptoms might make it hard to identify heart attack in young people, as the patient might never thinkthat he/she had suffered an attack and the negligence could even lead to death.

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES THAT WOULD LEAD TO HEART ATTACK?

Dr. Raghu informs that Diabetes, excessive fat in the blood, smoking, and hereditary issues, can cause heart attack. However, 30 per cent of the heart attacks occur even without the presence of these factors, and the affected persons can die.

CHANCES OF DEATH DURING HEART ATTACK

Nearly 30-40 per cent of the people die if the problem is not identified or neglected. If the patient can go the Intensive Care Unit and get complete treatment, the death rate can be minimised to 10 per cent. If emergency angioplasty is done, the death rate can be further reduced to 3-4 per cent.

WHY DO DEATHS OCCUR IN A FEW WHILE MANY PEOPLE GET HEART ATTACKS?

Dr. Raghu, Cardiologist at Prime Hospitals in Hyderabad, says deaths due to heart attack are reported mainly among the young, aged below 45 years. Many of them might not even be affected with Diabetes. Though they feel pain in the heart, they fail to understand that it is a heart attack. By the time they identify the fact and reach the hospital, it is too late.

Smoking promotes coagulation of blood. Being young, they might not be affected with any serious disease and might not have experienced such a pain earlier. So identifying heart attack among the young is a big challenge.

HEART CAN BE TRAINED

If a person is affected with Diabetes, the supply of blood to the heart reduces gradually, and the heart gets trained to react to such situations. Lack of experience to adjust to adversity can lead to death among the young, even when they are healthy and fit.

WHAT CAN BE DONE AS FIRST AID?

The treatment given to those collapsing suddenly would be different in a hospital from what a layman can do in the house.

In case we see the person is in an unconscious state, we have to try to wake him up. If he/shefails to respond, we have to sense his heartbeat at the wrist. If you do not know how to sense the pulse at the wrist, immediately rest the person straight on a cot and perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

For this, place both of your palms one on the top of the other (interlock the fingers to help them gain strength), over the middle of the person’s chest and press down hard to make the chest move 1.5-2 inches inward. It would be better if more pressure can be exerted by pressing our body weight also on to the palms.Then relax to let the chest rebound.

While pressing, we need to count the numbers anddo it at a rate of 100-120 compressions per minute. If the patient does not gain consciousness even after two minutes, we should continue pressing for another two minutes.

CPR uses chest compressions to mimic pumping of blood by the heart. These compressions help keep blood flowing throughout the body. CPR performed within the first 6 minutes of the heart stopping can keep someone alive till medical help arrives. This first aid would give a chance for 50-70 per cent of those suffering a heart attack to recover.

DON’T DO THESE DURING A HEART ATTACK

People not having complete knowledge would make the affected person’s condition more critical by doing something unwanted. Hence:

1.            Do not get stressed and cry

2.            Do not pourTulasi water into the mouth  (a ritual performed when the person is about to die)of the affected person

3.            Donot keep rubbing the person’s feet

4.            Donot push sorbitrate tablet into the person’s mouth

5.            Do not exert less pressure on the patient’s chest during CPR

6.            Do not come to a conclusion that the patient cannot be saved

Note: There is no need to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Focus on performing the CPR.

Book Appointement: Dr. C. Raghu, Cardiologist at Aster Prime Hospitals, Hyderabad