Chennai, Jan. 5: People who die of heart attack do so within the first few hours after the onset of the symptoms. If primary angioplasty is done within an hour, it can save one's life and will also not damage the heart further, say cardiologists.
Recently, a 24-year-old IT professional, Harish, preparing for an exam, went sleepless at nights for at least a week. Harish was living alone, his parents being in Andhra Pradesh. When he could not breathe, Harish visited a private hospital where he was diagnosed with a massive heart attack.
"He was shocked to know that he had a heart attack. He was an ambitious youth and was preparing for his exams. In fact, he was a gold medalist in engineering. He said he was not able to sleep and had slept just for an hour for three days. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot blocks a coronary artery. Coronary arteries are the vessels that supply the heart with blood and oxygen. If these are blocked, the heart muscle does not receive blood and oxygen and gets damaged," exÂplaÂined Dr Sanjiv Agarwal, consultant inteÂrÂÂvenÂtional cardiologist of Fortis Malar HosÂpÂiÂtal.
Cardiologists say that they see young patients these days. "Ten days ago, 28-year-old was adÂmitted with a heart attack. Stress plays an important role, combined with a sedentary lifestyle. Most of these youth live alone and their food habits are bad," says Dr Agarwal, adding that he sees, once in two to three months, patients in their twenties.
After a massive heart attack, the heart muscle gets damaged completely in six to 10 hours. "Diagnosis is better these days and so it may be the reason we can identify a heart attack early. In Harish’s case, he had vomiting and abdoÂmÂinal pain. Nearly 30 per cent of heart attack patients have these symptoms.
Doctors are also aware of this, so they immÂeÂdiately recommÂeÂnd an ECG. It is always better to do an ECG and cholesterol check-up," says the interventional cardiologist. "We get best results in one hour after the onset of symptoms. Clot dissolving drugs are given. If a patient reaches hospital after three or four hours, clot dissolving capabilities decÂrease," said Dr Joy ThoÂmas, cardiologist and electrophysiologist.
In case of angioplasty, a catheter is inserted through a small cut in the groin. At the tip of it is a small balloon and when it is inflated, it clears the blockage in the artery.
