Heart Attack v. Cardiac Arrest: Michael Jackson's Passing Sparks an Age-Old Debate

(His music touched our hearts for so many years - and while we play his hits on repeat, let's focus on our hearts, shall we?)When it comes to home improvement, most of us can tell the difference between plumbing problems and electrical problems. Lights out - electrical. Toilet overflow - plumbing. We diagnose and take necessary steps to fix and prevent future problems.

Well imagine a similar analogy, but with your heart. Due to all of the media buzz about the very recent passing of Michael Jackson, everyone was asking - what's the difference between a heart attack and the cardiac arrest? Well, think back to the home improvement thing - it comes down to electrical vs. plumbing.

A heart attack is caused by a "plumbing" problem in the heart. Circulation issues that come when your hearts' arteries are clogged by plaque. Then the blog flood is slowly impeded. Nearly all heart attacks are caused when a blood clot forms on top of the plaque and cuts off blood flow in the already narrow vessel. Symptoms include: discomfort, pressure, heaviness, (chest, arm, breastbone) feeling full, indigestion, a choking/heartburn feeling, discomfort in back jaw throat or arm, sweating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, extreme weakness, anxiety, shortness of breath, rapid or irregular heart beats. If these symptoms last longer than 30 minutes and are not relieved by resting or taking oral drugs - it's most certainly a heart attack and you should get to the hospital!

Heart attack victims are usually hospitalized and administered standard drug therapy (painkillers like morphine, vasodilators like nitroglycerine to expand blood vessels, beta-adrenergic blocker drug to calm the heart, and aspirin to reduce clotting). Sometimes surgery might be needed to remove a clot, reopen an artery, or bypass blocked arteries. Then, during recovery, you change your lifestyle to include more exercise and less salt (among other things).

Now, a cardiac arrest electrical. A sudden cardiac is "a heart rhythm disturbance when the bottom of the heart, the ventricles, beat at an extremely rapid rate (4-600 times a minute)." This heart rhythm stops the bottom chamber from effectively contracting and pumping blood to the brain (and rest of the body). This could result in death with 4-5 minutes. Once the oxygen in the blood vessels stops going to the brain, the brain begins to die.

CPR can help blood stay flowing, but it would take an electrical shock to get the heart back to its normal rhythm. Electrical shocks can be given by electrical paddles (defibrillators - clear!) or from an internal heart device. The heart needs to be restored to its effective contraction. Some symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest include: a racing heartbeat, or dizzy, alerting them that a potentially dangerous heart rhythm problem has started. But in over half of the cases, there are no symptoms! You might not have chest pain, shortness of breath, or anything to warn you.

Cardiac arrest can be caused by a heart attack but not vice versa (square, rectangle). Clearly cardiac arrest is the more severe of the two since you have only a few minutes to get the blood flowing again. Or SCD (sudden cardiac death) can happen.

This is the one Michael Jackson had. He suffered cardiac arrest and was not able to be resuscitated in time. Right now no one is sure what caused this. (Gotta wait on the autopsy to be certain). There is speculation that it involves a combination of pain medication - but we're going to have to wait and see about the specifics.

One of the most popular comments I saw around the web was to the tune of - "he is so young! how could he have cardiac arrest at 50?" But this is not young. In fact, "after accidents (such as car crashes), heart disease is the most common killer of men between the ages of 35 and 44. In men 45 to 54 years old, it’s number one." It's unfortunate that more people don't know this! Women are also just as likely to die of heart-related illness (though they receive less heart treatment than men). And every day nearly 2,500 people die of heart illnesses.

There are things you can do to improve your health - and important that more people know that it's never too early to start. Some sources claim that that people should start being heart-health-conscious around age 20 (a problem for college students who rely on the usual diet of pizza, beer, and sleep). There is so much focus on keeping our "hearts" healthly with love, relationships, and caring. No one likes a broken heart. But fortunately broken hearts can heal - sick, clogged, unhealthy hearts might not. We need to remember that this is a muscle that controls everything - and we've got to treat it right or else!

Find more about heart attacks and cardiac arrest!
• Heart attacks facts, prevention, and treatment, etc.
• Cardic arrest facts, treatment, etc.
• Join the WEGO Health Heart Health Group
• Check out the discussion - "How to calculate your risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years"
• Browse the awesome Heart Health community-rated content!