Cardiac arrest. One of the most life-threatening experiences one can go through: involves the heart stopping pumping blood through the body both suddenly and unexpectedly.
When someone is experiencing cardiac arrest, they could exert many symptoms. A few could be that they collapse, show signs of having difficulty breathing, or they lack a pulse and do not react. Recognizing these symptoms is necessary, as unfortunately 9 out of 10 people who experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital pass away, often within minutes (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2022).
Fortunately, about 11% of people who have a cardiac arrest outside a hospital and get emergency treatment to survive and go home from the hospital, and 26% of people who experience a cardiac arrest in a hospital survive(Cleveland Clinic, 2022). Consequently, it is crucial to understand how one may cause themselves to experience a cardiac arrest, and what they can do to prevent one.
Causes
When someone experiences cardiac arrest, there are many considerably noticeable causes. For example, a few, predeterminable things could increase the chances of someone experiencing a cardiac arrest, such as: faulty genetics being passed on through generations in one's family or in their own genetics, or previous experiences with heart diseases. Some examples include:
coronary heart disease (CHD) a type of heart disease where oxygenated blood cannot be delivered to the heart
heart valve disease where one or more valves in the heart do not function properly, disrupting the blood flow from the heart to the body. Heart diseases like such can cause scarring (blockage) on the muscle tissue of the heart.
A heart that has scarred tissue is more prone to developing life-threatening arrhythmias, which are irregular heartbeats that could result in severe heart problems like cardiac arrest.
However, beneficial, heart-disease-tackling medication could also increase their probabilities of cardiac arrest. Heart medications which aid in ‘setting the stage’ for arrhythmias, somehow produce ventricular arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat affecting only the lower chambers of the heart) (American Heart Association, 2021). In subsequent, the anti-arrhythmic drugs make patients more prone to emergency diseases. There are so many causes and factors that may increase your chances of experiencing cardiac arrest.
Methods of Prevention
On the contrary, there still are many ways to prevent cardiac arrests. One of which is developing a healthy eating habit. When eating foods with high levels of cholesterol, such as oily sugary and carb-filled foods, plaque can start to build up in the arteries (vital parts of the circulatory system that carries oxygenated blood from the heart to the cells of the body). As the plaque builds up in the body, it can build up enough to break off the walls of the artery, causing it to travel down the bloodstream. Accumulation of plaque can cause blockages in the veins and other arteries of the circulatory system.
To help with this, eating foods like fruits, vegetables, fibre rich grains like oats, rye and barley help avoid the amount of plaque buildup that occurs, further reduces the chances of experiencing cardiac arrest.
Striving to eat foods that contain little to no amounts of hydrogenated vegetable oils could help reduce the amount of trans fat in your diet that then goes into your body. Some examples of these types of food could include chips, baked goods and fried foods.
Exercise is another healthy routine, also aiding with the reduction of plaque buildup in the body. Research shows that around 15-20 minutes of exercise is enough for the heart and for one’s body. All individuals are more likely to have a sudden cardiac arrest (see other article) when they are exercising than when sitting, but are less likely to have one when they exercise regularly compared to individuals who do not exercise—supported by a study conducted in 2006 that concluded that the exercisers were less likely to die prematurely of any cause than were their less active counterparts (Harvard Medical School (Harvard Health Publishing), 2006).
Cardiac arrest, although caused by many pre-determined factors such as prior experience with coronary heart disease, heart valve disease, and even faulty genes that come from a history of heart diseases that have been passed on for generations in a family. Of course, there are many things that can help reduce these chances of experiencing a cardiac arrest, such as eating healthy by introducing more fruits and vegetables and foods that contain higher amounts of fibre into your diet, and increasing the frequency one works out.
Doing these things will not only decrease the risk of experiencing cardiac arrest but will also make one feel better and healthy.
FLASHCARDS
What is cardiac arrest?
Cardiac arrest is what involves the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating and pumping blood to the body.
What are the symptoms of cardiac arrest?
What are the causes of cardiac arrest?
How can we prevent chances of cardiac arrest in our daily life?
VOCABULARY
Term | Definition |
Heart | vital muscle organ which pumps blood in the body. |
Arteries | vital blood vessels which carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the body. |
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) | a type of heart disease where oxygenated blood cannot be delivered to the heart due to blockage (plaque). |
Heart Valve Disease | where one or more valves in the heart do not function properly, disrupting the blood flow from the heart to the body. |
Arrhythmias | irregular patterns in heartbeat |
Trans-fat | a type of lipid/fat which increases LDL (harmful cholesterol causing plaque) |
Cholesterol | a lipid which is found in blood (too much of it can cause lipids to compile and cause blockage in blood vessels) |
Ventricular | relating to the ventricles; lower chambers of the heart |
References
American Heart Association. (2021, January 29). Causes of Cardiac Arrest. American Heart Association. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cardiac-arrest/causes-of-cardiac-arrest
Cleveland Clinic. (2021, September 21). Ventricular Arrhythmia: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21854-ventricular-arrhythmia
DoctorNDTV. (2018, March 28). 5 Ways To Prevent A Cardiac Arrest - Heart. Doctor NDTV. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://doctor.ndtv.com/heart/5-ways-to-prevent-a-cardiac-arrest-1829356
Mayo Clinic. (2021, September 29). Heart valve disease - Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-valve-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20353727
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2022, March 24). Coronary Heart Disease - What Is Coronary Heart Disease? NHLBI. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/coronary-heart-disease
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2022, May 19). Cardiac Arrest - Causes and Risk Factors. NHLBI. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/cardiac-arrest/causes
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2022, May 19). Cardiac Arrest - What Is Cardiac Arrest? NHLBI. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/cardiac-arrest
THERESPONSEINSTI. (2018, March 12). Foods that Prevent Heart Attacks | The Response Institute. CPR Consultants. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.cprconsultants.com/what-foods-prevent-cardiac-arrest-or-heart-attacks/
Cleveland Clinic. (2022, May 18). Cardiac Arrest: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21736-cardiac-arrest
Harvard Medical School (Harvard Health Publishing). (2006, June 1). Heart Beat: Exercise and cardiac arrest. Harvard Health. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Heart_Beat_Exercise_and_cardiac_arrest
Ruiz, K. (2017). Cholesterol plaque in artery [images of three arteries, with different levels of plaque build up]. In Actif Wellness. Actif Wellness. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from http://actifwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/aterosclerosis.jpg
tosin. (2022, July 22). Cardiac Arrest [two images of hearts and their heart beats, but one is experiencing a cardiac arrest]. In Information Nigeria. Information Nigeria. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from https://www.informationng.com/2013/07/cardiac-arrest-causes-types-and-treatment.html
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