Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in South Africa. Heart disease, in particular, features prominently among the conditions that contributed to a significant rise in deaths from non-communicable diseases in 2015, according to Statistics South Africa.
In the same year, 7.5 percent of all recorded deaths were attributed to various forms of heart disease across different population groups.1
But neither heart attacks nor death as the result of a heart attack are inevitable.
- The majority of heart attacks can be avoided by understanding and managing the risk factors for coronary artery disease.
- It is possible to survive a heart attack and regain good health by getting the right treatment fast.
Medical organisations are using the World Heart Day on 29 September to raise awareness and highlight the seriousness of heart disease for all sections of South Africa’s population to assist people to take heart health into their own hands.
“We want every South African to understand the link between lifestyle and cardiovascular disease,” says Dr Shanil Naidoo, Medical Director of Boehringer Ingelheim. “Healthy lifestyle choices significantly decrease the risk of heart attacks and strokes and have the further benefit of improving an individual’s quality of life.”
Spot the risks and neutralise them
A heart attack occurs when an artery that carries oxygen to the heart becomes blocked, usually by a blood clot. The likelihood of such a blockage increases when the arteries are narrowed by fatty cholesterol deposits or plaques. This condition is referred to as coronary artery disease.
There are a number of factors that increase the risk of developing coronary artery disease and suffering a heart attack including smoking, an unhealthy diet, obesity and physical inactivity. Other risk factors are high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, advancing age and a family history of heart disease.
Recognise a heart attack
Speed of reaction is absolutely critical to surviving a heart attack and regaining good health. In some cases, a heart attack causes virtually instant death. But in many cases survival and recovery are perfectly possible – provided you know what to do and get to work instantly.
What does a heart attack feel like?
- There is heavy pressure, tightness, unusual discomfort or crushing pain in the centre of the chest.
- This may spread to the shoulders, arms, neck or jaw.
- It may last more than 15 minutes and could stop or weaken and then return.
- This may be accompanied by sweating, nausea, faintness or shortness of breath.
- The pulse could be rapid or weak.
Important things to note
- Women may have different symptoms to men, with more pronounced nausea, dizziness and anxiety.
- A heart attack can be silent and produce no signs or symptoms.
- A sharp stabbing pain in the left side of the chest is usually not heart pain.
What to do if you experience or witness a heart attack
- If unexplained chest pain lasts for more than a few minutes, do not delay, do not try and figure out the cause, call an ambulance and state that you are dealing with a suspected heart attack.
- If the ambulance is delayed, access private transport to get to the emergency department of the nearest hospital. On arrival, advise the staff this is a suspected heart attack.
- If you have been trained and you are near a person who loses consciousness due to these symptoms, perform chest compressions at a rate of about 100 per minute.