The heart being a metabolically active organ constantly needs adequate energy and a good continuous supply of blood to carry out its activities. Heart attack can occur due to a number of factors related with the blood circulation and interruption in oxygen supply to heart muscles.
“The narrowing and thickening of arteries due to the deposition of cholesterol, fibrin, and cellular debris in the endothelial cells of the arterial wall, and also the accumulation of smooth muscles in the lining of the arteries, can also lead to a heart attack.”
If an area of the heart musculature receives insufficient supply of blood, the oxygen supply to this area becomes deficient. Due to deficient supply of oxygen, the cardiac muscles, which are extremely sensitive, will die and this will result in a heart attack. Heart attack may also be caused by a narrowing or clot in coronary blood vessels.
Angina pectoris as a mild type of heart attack. It is also caused due to insufficient supply of blood to the cardiac muscles (not to the level that it would cause the death of the heart muscles) due to the narrowing of the coronary blood vessels. The symptoms of angina pectoris are the same as those of the heart attack i.e. chest pain (in the center of chest), and shooting pain in the left arm and the shoulder.
“High level of cholesterol! In the blood, high blood pressure, increased smoking, increased stress, and increasingly sedentary life style (lack of sufficient physical activity) can also cause heart attacks. ”
Recovery from a heart attack depends upon the extent of damage to the heart tissue. If the coronary blood vessels of the heart can enhance their capacity to provide sufficient supplies of blood to this tissue, this can bring about recovery from a heart attack.
The interference of blood supply to the brain, which may be due to a blood clot in the blood vessels (carotid vessels) or bursting of blood vessel in the brain, causes brain stroke. Stroke in smaller vessels results in paralysis while stroke in a large vessel may result in death.