Although you had an article on this, I thought it would be a good question to pass on to our expert, Dr. Lishan Aklog.
Here is his response:
Good question because there is a lot of confusion on this. For example Michael Jackson’s death was initially reported as a heart attack but it was not, it was a cardiac arrest.
Cardiac Arrest simply means that the heart stops beating normally. It can be caused by many initiating factors which ultimately lead to the heart stopping. Most commonly it results from a bad arrhythmia such as ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia which can occur spontaneously or be triggered by any serious heart or lung problem. In Michael Jackson’s case he almost certainly stopped breathing first and his heart stopped when the oxygen in his blood fell too low.
Heart attack usually refers to a very specific event. In medical terms it is called a myocardial infarction which simply means that some heart muscle (myocardium) dies (infarction). This almost always results from a blockage in the coronary artery which supplies blood to the heart. This is why it is sometimes referred to as a “coronary”. The blockage usually occurs from build up of plaques from cholesterol and other factors. If the artery remains blocked for long enough, the heart muscle dies permanently. If the artery can be reopened quickly using blood thinner and balloons/stents (angioplasty) then some of the heart muscle can be spared. A heart attack can cause a cardiac arrest if there is a large amount of damage and if the damaged muscle triggers a severe arrythmia.
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mgagne,
Although you had an article on this, I thought it would be a good question to pass on to our expert, Dr. Lishan Aklog.
Here is his response:
Good question because there is a lot of confusion on this. For example Michael Jackson’s death was initially reported as a heart attack but it was not, it was a cardiac arrest.
Cardiac Arrest simply means that the heart stops beating normally. It can be caused by many initiating factors which ultimately lead to the heart stopping. Most commonly it results from a bad arrhythmia such as ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia which can occur spontaneously or be triggered by any serious heart or lung problem. In Michael Jackson’s case he almost certainly stopped breathing first and his heart stopped when the oxygen in his blood fell too low.
Heart attack usually refers to a very specific event. In medical terms it is called a myocardial infarction which simply means that some heart muscle (myocardium) dies (infarction). This almost always results from a blockage in the coronary artery which supplies blood to the heart. This is why it is sometimes referred to as a “coronary”. The blockage usually occurs from build up of plaques from cholesterol and other factors. If the artery remains blocked for long enough, the heart muscle dies permanently. If the artery can be reopened quickly using blood thinner and balloons/stents (angioplasty) then some of the heart muscle can be spared. A heart attack can cause a cardiac arrest if there is a large amount of damage and if the damaged muscle triggers a severe arrythmia.
September 25, 2009 - 5:58amThis Comment
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