The Concepts of Myocardial Infarction and How It Can be Controlled - Term Paper Example

Myocardial Infarction Name Date Course Introduction Myocardial infarction is also referred to as heart attack and it is characterized by chest pains as well as difficulty in breathing. It usually occurs when blood fails to flow to some parts of the heart and hence affecting the normal heart functioning (Thygesen, 2007). This results to the injury of the heart muscles due to lack of sufficient oxygen supply in the heart. The coronary arteries are usually affected by the myocardial infarction. The buildup of cholesterol, unstable white blood cells and fats usually builds up in the coronary artery that supplies the heart with oxygenated blood. Nausea, vomiting, sweating, abnormal heart beats and anxiety is also common during the process as a result of the heart attack. Myocardial infarction is usually common among the people of advanced ages and also those who are diabetic. However it can affect anyone depending on their lifestyle. This is because some of the lifestyle practices like failing to exercise, smoking and the use of illicit drugs like cocaine also cause the heart attack. In most cases, it is usually instant and it can result to sudden death of immediate medical intervention is not put in place. The disease is thus fatal and it has resulted to a number of deaths all over the world. Clotting of the blood also occurs due to the myocardial infarction and hence affecting the body functioning leading to sudden death. The paper discusses the concepts of myocardial infarction and how it can be controlled and managed to prevent loss of life. Discussion Normal physiological function The heart has four chambers which includes two atria and two ventricles. During the normal physiological functioning of the heart, tiny electrical impulses cause the heartbeat. The electrical impulses usually originate from the top of the heart and it spreads to the heart muscles (Reid, et al, 2010). The electrical impulse causes the contraction of the atria and ventricles. This action causes the pumping of the blood by the heart. The veins usually supply the heart with blood through the right atrium from the upper and lower parts. Oxygenated blood is usually brought to the heart through the left atrium. The contraction of the ventricles causes the arteries to take blood to the lungs and the rest of the body. The transportation of the blood to the lungs is for the purposes of oxygenation. Oxygenated blood is then transported to the other parts of the body by the arteries. During the heartbeat, the amount of blood that enters the heart is usually pumped out. The process is continuous for the purposes of ensuring that the circulation of blood is maintained in the body. The coronary arteries are responsible for the transportation of oxygen rich blood to the heart walls. The hearth rhythms are also maintained at a normal level during the normal functioning of the heart. The supply of the blood also meets the demand for all the body parts and hence ensuring that the body is able to function normally (Nielsen, 2010). How the system is affected Myocardial infarction usually causes the coronary arteries to swell due to the deposition of cholesterol or fats. This affects the flow of blood in the heart as it is unable to balance the supply and demand of the blood to the other parts of the body (Yeh, et al, 2010). The failure of the heart to balance the supply and demand leads to the overworking of the heart. The supply of oxygenated blood is also affected and thus affecting the normal functioning of the body. A faster heart rate usually develops when it cannot receive adequate amount of blood. The faster heart rate is also developed as a result of the overworking of the heart. This in turn results to the shortness of breath and hence difficulty in breathing. The disease also causes inadequate supply of blood to the kidney. This results to tissue swelling, high blood pressure and water retention. This causes the sweating that is usually characterized ensuring the heart attack. A lot of strain is also imposed on the heart when the kidneys do not receive enough blood. The timing and coordination of the heartbeat is also distorted due to the strain that the heart is undergoing. This contributes to the chest pains that are usually felt by the patients (Wolski, 2010). On the other hand, the failure of the heart to supply adequate blood to all the parts of the body also results to release of hormones which results to high blood pressure. The plagues results to the clotting of the blood and it usually occurs at a fast rate. The clotting of the blood is risky and it greatly contributes to death of the patient within a short time (Ingelsson, et al, 2012). The heart cells in the coronary region usually begin to die if the impairment of the blood supply lasts for a long time. The injury to the heart cells also affects the conductivity of the electrical impulses by the heart. This is responsible for the interference with the heart rhythm. In some cases, the heart rhythm is chaotic lading to sudden death. The heartbeat rate is usually affected which further complicates the situation of the patent by preventing effective pumping of the blood to the system. The movement of the patient is usually affected due to the interference with the functioning of the entire system. It is for this reason that the patients always collapse. On the other hand general body weakness usually occurs as a result of the heart being overworked. The death of the cells in most cases results to the permanent damage of the heart of the patient. The combination of the factors also affects the operations of the body and it results to sudden death if medical intervention is not put in place on time (Ramos, et al, 2009). Management and treatment The treatment of myocardial infarction is crucial and it requires immediate medical intervention in order to prevent the death of the patient. The main focus of the treatment is to prevent the complications that may lead to the failure of the system. Administration of oxygen is usually required immediately for the purposes of dealing with the breathing problems. Aspirin should also be administered to the patient immediately. This is for the purposes of preventing the clotting of blood which is responsible for the sudden death of the patient. Although the patient may be experiencing a lot of pain, morphine should not be administered as it increases the chances of fatality. A drug called the metoprolol is also essential for the treatment of the patient. This drug can be administered immediately to the patient on the way to the hospital. It plays an important role in terms of saving the life of the patient buy reducing the damage that is caused to the heart by myocardial infarction. Parcutaneous coronary intervention is also an important treatment that can be administered in order to restore the normal functioning of the heart of the patient. However, it is recommended that this treatment should be carried out within the first thirty minutes of the heart attack in order to save the life of the patient. The patient who has undergone the treatment through the parcutaneous coronary intervention has to be placed on antiplatelet therapy for about one year in order to improve their condition. It is also recommended that the patient should take aspirin for a period recommended by the doctor after the treatment of the disease. The only treatment of the patient is thus medical intervention which should be carried out immediately (Blankenberg, 2009). Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that myocardial infarction is a serious disease that may lead to the sudden death of the patient if the intervention measures are not put in place. The normal functioning of the heart ensures that adequate supply of blood in the body is maintained. The disease affects the supply of the blood to the organs including the heart and hence causing the failure of the system. The main cause of the disease is the blockage of the coronary artery through the accumulation of fat and cholesterol. The failure of the heart to distribute blood to the other parts of the body is thus a risk. It is also evident that disease can be treated despite its risk of sudden death. The treatment however requires immediate medical attention for it to be effective. The use of drugs like aspirin is important in terms of treatment and management of the condition. References Thygesen, K, 2007, Universal definition of myocardial infarction, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 50(22), 2173-2195. Reid, I, et al, 2010, Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis, BMJ: British Medical Journal, 341. Nielsen, T, 2010, Remote ischaemic conditioning before hospital admission, as a complement to angioplasty, and effect on myocardial salvage in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a randomised trial, The Lancet, 375(9716), 727-734. Yeh, R, et al, 2010, Population trends in the incidence and outcomes of acute myocardial infarction, New England Journal of Medicine, 362(23), 2155-2165. Wolski, K, 2010, Rosiglitazone revisited: an updated meta-analysis of risk for myocardial infarction and cardiovascular mortality, Archives of Internal Medicine. Ingelsson, E, et al, 2012, Plasma HDL cholesterol and risk of myocardial infarction: a mendelian randomisation study, The Lancet, 380(9841), 572-580. Ramos, R, et al, 2009, Genome-wide association of early-onset myocardial infarction with single nucleotide polymorphisms and copy number variants, Nature genetics, 41(3), 334-341. Blankenberg, S, 2009, Sensitive troponin I assay in early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, New England Journal of Medicine, 361(9), 868-877. Read More