Posted on 09/09/2006 7:12:02 AM PDT by FairOpinion
Chest pain, breathlessness call for quick action, study finds
"Sudden cardiac death" often isn't all that sudden, and lives can be saved by training people about the symptoms of impending cardiac arrest and what action to take, a German study shows.
"A study of 406 sudden cardiac death patients indicates that they often have symptoms, especially the typical symptom angina pectoris [chest pain] for as long as 120 minutes before an arrest," said study lead author Dr. Dirk Muller, a cardiologist and emergency physician at the Medical Clinic II, Cardiology and Pulmonology, in Berlin.
"Two-thirds of cardiac arrest patients have a history that predisposes them to sudden cardiac death," Muller added, so efforts to reduce the toll should focus on teaching their family members to recognize the symptoms and how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
In the study, 72 percent of cardiac-arrest cases occurred at home, and two-thirds were witnessed by others.
The researchers collected information about symptoms preceding cardiac arrest for 323 patients. The most common warning sign was chest pain, which occurred for at least 20 minutes, and, in some cases, for hours, before cardiac arrest. Chest pain occurred in 25 percent of the patients whose cardiac arrest was witnessed by other persons and in one-third of other cases.
Breathlessness was the next most common symptom, seen in 17 percent of witnessed arrests and 30 percent of other cases. Other common symptoms were nausea, vomiting, dizziness or fainting.
CPR was performed on 57 patients, and 13 of them survived to be discharged from the hospital. The survival rate for those who did not get CPR was 4 percent -- 13 of 349 patients.
One notable fact was that CPR was more likely to be performed when cardiac arrest occurred in public cases -- 26 percent of the time, compared to 11 percent of the time when the attack occurred at home.
The study results were expected to be published in this week's issue of Circulation.
There are two significant messages from the study, said Dr. Ann Bolger, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.
"The first is that people need to be educated about how cardiac symptoms can present," Bolger said. "We always try to encourage people not to discount such things as shortness of breath, things that really should demand a response, because they could be a harbinger of early death.
"The second thing is that the family is important," she added. "Many of these patients have a known history of heart problems. They are not taking us by surprise. We know that one of these things can happen to them, so, it is important to get education that if there is chest pain that does not respond to nitroglycerine, they should call 911. When a patient has active heart disease, I try to make sure that they and their family get basic training about calling 911 and get the emergency medical service on the scene. People who don't get CPR before they get to the hospital have much worse outcomes."
According to the American Heart Association, cardiac arrest is the sudden loss of heart function. The victim may or may not have diagnosed heart disease; the most common cause of death is coronary heart disease.
The AHA estimates that 330,000 Americans die each year from heart disease before reaching a hospital and urges CPR training on a large scale.
More information
For more on CPR, visit the American Heart Association.
PING
And then he was dead.
( Is it a good thing to know that you are going to suddenly die? )
I think they are saying that sudden cardiac death wasn't so sudden. The signs were there if the people knew how to read them. If there is a family history, these symptoms should never be ignored.
The death rate is 100%. Given a choice between heart attack and cancer, I'll take the heart attack.
***"A study of 406 sudden cardiac death patients indicates that they often have symptoms, especially the typical symptom angina pectoris [chest pain] for as long as 120 minutes before an arrest," ***
Tell me about it! My dad died after severe shest pains but refused to see the doctor.
Not long ago I began to have short duration chest pains, went to the doctor and was put on Nitro, then an angiogram showed a blocked artery. I now have a stent and no pains.
If you ever have severe heart pains that feel like someone is squeezing your heart, GET TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM FAST!
My dad smoked, drank, and ate the worst possible foods.
I didn't do any of these, (except for the foods) and still ended up with heart problems.
Don't think tha aspirin or other meds will prevent this. I have been on Coumadin for sixteen years and still ended up with a blocked artery in the heart.
The point is that if there are warning signs, people need to pay attention, and take their medicines and go to emergency, when these symptoms appear and NOT wait until they "suddenly" die.
For a long time, it was thought that there are no warning signs. A couple of hours is enough time to allow people to get to the emergency room and/or call paramedics, and hopefully get to the hospital and save their lives.
I think a government-approved course on calling 911 should be mandatory for all citizens.
Remember, dial the digits 9-1-1, sequentially, which means, in that order. Once the operator answers, and you're sure it's the 911 operator, scream out in a loud, hysterical voice, "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" When the operator asks if you have an emergency, scream out in a loud voice, "Yes ... OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" Repeat until the operator instructs you to calm down in a loud, commanding voice.
It's a slow news day so far, so I'll leave it for now.
I read another article, which basically said based on some studies, that genetics trump lifestyle every time. Some people can watch their diet, exercise, do all the right things, and still have heart and artery disease, others can eat anything, smoke, drink and have no ill effects.
I hope that they will identify the genes that are involved and eventually use gene therapy to eradicate this disease.
Yes, I got the point. The title is poorly written. Obviously so was my post...
My doctors confirm that by taking that aspirin, I saved myself long enough to get to the emergency help who did the rest.
Freepers, please keep an aspirin with you at all times, and swallow it at the first sign of chest pain or shortness of breath!
They used "sudden cardiac death", because that is actually the name used to identify the cause of death, when people's heart give out "without warning" -- or so people thought. Now we find out that there is some subtle or not so subtle warning in at least some of the cases.
Having had both in my family, I agree with that...as tho we have choice...
Thanks!
An asprin a day won't hurt you either.... Wally world sells them cheap in large quantities..
Fine if you're a man. But if you're a middle aged woman and you present at the ER with chest pain and breathlessness, they might just tell you you're having an anxiety attack.
Happened to my aunt, she went home from the ER, and died in her sleep the same day.
My uncle didn't even have to sue the hospital, they contacted him to settle.
Unfortunately there is a gender gap when it comes to treating middle aged people who present with what could be symptoms of a cardiac problem.
"genetics trump lifestyle every time."
Maybe you saw this one a while back:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1694117/posts
Not yet! We are still here. Ooops! There went you. Oh well, I'm still here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.