Beat cardiac arrest by prior planning, says doctors

Dubai: To avoid heart attack, it is better to plan beforehand by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.Consultant - interventional cardiology, clinical lead in Cardiology at Al Zahra Hospital Dubai,  Dr Syed Sakib Nazir said, "This case is an example of young people having heart attacks as early as their 30s. We are seeing more and more young patients suffering heart attacks nowadays.''

A cardiac arrest is a condition when the heart suddenly stops working and fails to pump blood around the body. The common cause is failure of electrical signals in the heart, a condition called ventricular fibrillation.

It was a normal day at the gym, when 36 year old Khaled's trainer decided to escalate the intensity of his workout session. 

"I felt fit, completely in shape and my stamina was at its best. So why not, let's do it with increased lunges, ropes and sprints. It did feel good but towards the end of the session I felt nauseous and dizzy but didn't want to fall and make a fool out of myself so I started walking."

But after just a few steps AA felt a stabbing pain in his chest. "The air entering my lungs was so cold that I wanted to stop breathing and I didn't know what was happening. I was panicking, people around me didn't know what should be done. 'Call the ambulance, NOW!' a guy with a British accent shouted," AA said recalling the fateful day. This was the last thing he remembered before 'he died for nearly 50 minutes'.

AA was brought to the emergency room of Al Zahra Hospital Dubai while he was talking but all of a sudden he developed cardiac arrest, which means his heart stopped beating. It stopped for a good 50 minutes but because of the highly orchestrated and successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he was brought back to life.

''In this case, AA, a fit man, developed chest pain while he was at a gym, which shows that physical and psychological stress can trigger heart attack. This clearly indicates that heart diseases are a dynamic process. One may walk in to the ER on his own feet (in a stable condition) but can become unstable anytime," Dr Nazir added, Khaleej Times reported.

Pointing out AA's right approach, Dr Nazir said, "AA acted quickly and quickly called the ambulance which saved his life. We need to understand that once we develop chest pain then if it is due to heart attack, the chance of survival is high if that person can reach the hospital as quickly as possible."

"In this case, the ER team took only 20 minutes to open up the artery that was blocked by using a stent. This case tells us that irrespective of age any kind of chest pain which worries a person, requires the person to reach the hospital as soon as preferably by calling the ambulance, Dr Nazir concluded.

"When the heart stops pumping blood, organs such as the brain gets affected very fast. Patients with cardiac arrest becomes unconscious and stops breathing and require immediate intervention in the form of resuscitation which involves massaging the heart, giving oxygen, electric shocks and drugs,", explained Dr Abdalla Alhajiri, a consultant interventional cardiologist.(UNI)