Some diseases come unexpectedly and forever change a person’s life. A heart attack is one of such diseases, it takes away not only health but also life. It comes when he could not even think of him, but from that moment on, life changes irrevocably.
What is a heart attack?
At the moment when a blockage or spasm occurs in the artery, the blood flow stops.
What happens to the body at this moment? The heart muscle (myocardium) suffers from insufficient blood supply. This leads to the death of the cells of the organ and begins myocardial necrosis, necrosis of the cells.
The disease affects young people, but the 50+ category is at risk, the disease develops in them 5 times more often than in young people.
Most often, left ventricular infarction occurs, because it accounts for the main load. Heart attack of the right half of the heart is rare.
Leg disease
There are friends or relatives in our circle who have had to deal with this disease. There are a number of the most common signs by which you can determine that a person has an attack, it can be chest pain, it can give to the shoulder, heart palpitations and shortness of breath, profuse sweating, dizziness and loss of consciousness. The symptoms are quite severe, and the question arises: is it possible to suffer a heart attack on the legs? Can. Cases were repeatedly recorded when these symptoms were absent, and the patient himself did not know that something was wrong with his health. This is an atypical form of the disease with uncharacteristic manifestations. The fact that a person has been ill, he can find out only at the next physical examination, when he will receive a cardiogram.
Varieties of atypical heart attack
An asymptomatic course of the disease is possible, while it is also divided into six varieties, depending on the manifestations. These manifestations are so insignificant that you can suffer a heart attack on the legs without resorting to any type of treatment.
These varieties include:
- Asthmatic, accompanied by severe bouts of coughing, it can reach suffocation, but there is no pain in the heart region.
- Arrhythmic, in which the heart rhythm is disturbed, the heart may freeze at this moment.
- Collapoid type of atypical heart attack is accompanied by low blood pressure and dizziness, fainting is possible. But then again, syncope is associated with low blood pressure and no additional research is done to establish the true cause.
- During an abdominal attack, severe abdominal pain appears, even with a slight pressure on the pancreas, the sharp pain intensifies. All of this may be accompanied by bloating, nausea and vomiting. With such symptoms, the patient cannot even suggest that this is not at all connected with the digestive system. As a result, the symptoms go away, and the person has a heart attack, transferred on his legs.
- The cerebral species has symptoms that are characteristic of diseases associated with circulatory disorders in the brain. Speech becomes slurred, a person may become confused in consciousness. He has vomiting and nausea, weakness in the limbs.
- The worn-out variety is the most common option when they suffer myocardial infarction on the legs. The transferred heart attack is accompanied by slight sweating or weakness. Very rarely there can be uncomfortable sensations in the chest, they are of an indefinite nature and pass themselves.
The disease is insidious, and it should be taken seriously, because repetitions are possible. The second case usually does not go as easily as the previous one. A heart attack on the legs and the consequences of it do not pass without a trace.
This is important to know. What triggers the disease?
Every fifth person who suffered a heart attack did not know what happened to him. One out of four cannot recognize a disease.
The disease comes from the fact that the coronary artery is blocked by an atherosclerotic plaque or thrombus. At risk are people with impaired metabolism and a genetic predisposition. People with high cholesterol are more likely to suffer from the disease, as well as in patients with diabetes. High blood pressure is a provocateur of this disease. Chronic diseases of the cardiovascular or nervous system can also be a trigger for the onset of a heart attack.
Heart attack in women
For women, smoking is an aggravating circumstance. Of the one hundred cases of heart attacks suffered by young women under 40, 75 were smokers. Even if the primary manifestations were not acute and the patient had a heart attack on her legs, the consequences in women do not go unnoticed. The disease may be asymptomatic, and may be accompanied by acute pain. Some consequences may occur in the distant time, while others make themselves felt in a few days or even hours.
Early complications after a heart attack
Complications that appear soon after a heart attack are presented in the form of heart rhythm disturbances, conduction is impaired. There may be a rupture of the wall of the left ventricle. Acute cardiovascular failure occurs, swelling of the lung. Blood pressure drops sharply, lips and limbs become a different shade.
Late complications after a heart attack
If there were no acute manifestations immediately, the disease may remind itself later. There are many complications caused by a heart attack on the legs. The consequences arise due to the fact that at the time of illness a person does not reduce physical activity, can be subjected to strong nervous tension.
After a heart attack, a scar forms in the place of necrosis on the heart, it does not contract. Over time, this scar turns into a cavity in which blood clots form, it can burst at any time. Any complications can be fatal. About 4% of patients do not have time to deliver to the hospital.
Life after a heart attack
One should not be irresponsible to one’s health, and if there is a serious illness such as a heart attack on one’s legs, or even the patient has been hospitalized and received timely medical attention, it’s still necessary to change his lifestyle.
Such changes are necessary in order to minimize the possibility of a recurrence of a heart attack. First of all, you need to get rid of bad habits (smoking - first of all), control your weight, remove fatty and spicy foods from the diet, if possible replace it with vegetables.
A heart attack on the legs requires constant monitoring - a cardiogram and an ultrasound of the heart, all procedures that include an annual rehabilitation program. In order to prevent the consequences of a heart attack, you can undergo treatment in sanatoriums, there are wellness and strengthening procedures.
Stress prevention is also an important component in this matter. You need to avoid them as much as possible, for example, take quiet walks at the end of the day. If a person is still prone to stress, then you can take tincture of motherwort, valerian, before going to bed, drink tea with mint. A good mood can also be an excellent prevention - when a person laughs, the blood vessels expand and contract.
How do you know that you have a disease?
If the symptoms were minor and the person did not understand what happened to him, then what signs of a heart attack on his legs should lead him to think about it?
With different forms of the disease, the symptoms are completely different. Not always, even at the time of acute pain, a person understands that this is a heart attack. Acute pain can last up to 15 minutes, it can be given to the lower jaw or left shoulder blade. On the ECG, all changes are very clearly visible. In the hospital, sometimes even in an ambulance a blood test is done, it allows you to see the presence of necrosis.
A painless atypical form of heart attack is extremely rare, sometimes symptoms may appear that are very difficult to compare with a heart disease. May be vomiting, dizziness, abdominal pain. You can only see the heart attack on the echogram, transferred on the legs. Symptoms can be observed only with a normal heart attack - chest pain, pallor of the skin, burning under the shoulder blade, passing into the arm, blood pressure sharply decreases. Even with such manifestations, diagnosis is still carried out, because similar phenomena are observed with angina pectoris.
The consequences of the disease for men
It all depends on the degree of damage to the heart muscle. The consequences of a heart attack on the legs in men do not differ radically from the problems that women experience after the disease. Partial or complete disability occurs. Fatigue, shortness of breath and palpitations may occur even before a heart attack. If you help the patient in time, you can save him from complete disability.
Recovery process
Of course, the disease brings a lot of discomfort to the patient, no one wants to be doomed to an old-fashioned lifestyle after a heart attack. But not everything is so simple, and sometimes you need to make a lot of efforts to recover and gradually return to a normal lifestyle. Without abrupt movements and impulses, restore motor activity. All nervous and physical exertion should be removed. Minimal but regular physical activity. Intimate life should not be interrupted, doctors do not recommend abandoning it, it is also important for recovery, as it allows you to maintain the state of the vessels in normal. And the work of the heart directly depends on their work.
Harbingers of a Heart Attack
If a person knows that he is at risk for heart disease, either from the genetic side, or because of health, then knowledge in this area will not interfere. At least half of the patients who had a heart attack already felt suspicious for several days, but did not attach any particular importance to this. About 30% nevertheless went to the hospital, but in most cases their condition was diagnosed incorrectly. Further, a heart attack on the legs may no longer manifest itself, and later be diagnosed by accident.
Pain can already be a harbinger of the disease. They can occur after physical exertion, after a meal or emotional stress. Pain can occur spontaneously, and not be associated with a provoking factor. If before a heart attack the patient suffered from angina pectoris and stopped the pain with glycerin, then in this case the disease can manifest itself more aggressively.
A person may notice increased fatigue, lethargy and weakness. Dizziness or shortness of breath appears from time to time. If you consult a doctor on time, then the onset of a heart attack can be prevented.
If you find signs of a heart attack
If you witnessed an attack, then it is necessary to provide the patient first aid before the ambulance arrives. A person needs to be reassured and laid down or seated so that he is physically limited. It is necessary to provide maximum access to fresh air, open the collar, loosen the buttons and belts. If an ambulance lingers on the way, you need to be prepared for resuscitation: artificial ventilation of the lungs and indirect heart massage. Many patients managed to save their lives precisely because at the time of the attack someone was close by.