| A heart attack is a sudden serious medical condition in | | | | A heart attack it is also known as myocardial |
| which someone's heart stops working, causing them | | | | infarction, which can also occur when a coronary |
| great pain. It is the most common of the heart | | | | artery temporarily contracts or goes into spasm, |
| diseases and occurs when blood flow to the heart and | | | | decreasing or cutting the blood flowing to the heart. |
| part of it is blocked, often by a blood clot, which is a | | | | A heart attack represents on or about half of all |
| thick almost solid mass formed when blood dries. | | | | coronary heart disease deaths and can be caused by |
| This situation is usually caused by arteriosclerosis a | | | | nearly all types of heart illness. |
| disease in which arteries become hard, stopping the | | | | There exist three main symptoms to know when a |
| blood from flowing through them smoothly. Sometimes, | | | | heart attack occurs. One is the pressure or pain in the |
| the clot is called coronary thrombosis or coronary | | | | centre of the chest, lasting more than a few minutes |
| occlusion, since is often caused by rupturing or tearing | | | | or going away and coming back. A second symptom |
| of plaque in an artery. | | | | is when pain spreads to the shoulders, neck or arms. |
| Muscle cells damaged and die, if blood supply is cut off | | | | A third symptom consists in a chest discomfort |
| for a long time, leading to disability or death depending | | | | combined with light-headedness, fainting, sweating, |
| on the extent of the damage to the muscle. | | | | nausea or shortness of breath. |