Tara Robinson survived three heart attacks in a span of one week at the age of 40.
After a first heart attack, most people go on to live a long, productive life. However, around 20 percent of patients age 45 and older will have another heart attack within five years of their first.
About 1 in 5 people who have had a heart attack will be readmitted to the hospital for a second one within five years, according to the American Heart Association. The organization also says that there are about 335,000 recurrent heart attacks each year in the United States.
About 697,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year–that's 1 in every 5 deaths. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common type of heart disease, killing approximately 382,820 people annually. Every year about 805,000 Americans have a heart attack.
The average person who survives a first heart attack may survive a second, sometimes a third, but very few survive more, said Dr. Edward I. Morris, a cardiologist at Washington Hospital Center, across town from Cheney's hospital.
Is sudden cardiac death painful? Some people have chest pain during the initial seconds of sudden cardiac arrest. However, once you lose consciousness, you don't feel pain.
Once you've had a heart attack, you have an increased risk of having another one. That's because the underlying factors that caused the first heart attack are still there, so it's very possible to have a repeat event.
The life expectancy of both men and women decreases after a heart attack. In both men and women, the decrease in life expectancy is similar. The most severe reductions in life expectancy are seen in African-Americans compared to Caucasians. Overall, life expectancy may decrease by about 8-10% of your expected life.
The most deadly type of heart attack is the ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). STEMI is a total or nearly total blockage of a coronary artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to part of the heart muscle. Lack of blood and oxygen causes that part of the heart to fail.
After surviving a heart attack, you're probably certain of this: You don't want another one. Yet, about one in five people who have had a heart attack will be readmitted to the hospital for a second one within five years. Each year, there are about 335,000 recurrent heart attacks in the United States.
Men age 45 and older and women age 55 and older are more likely to have a heart attack than are younger men and women.
Most people having a heart attack do not die immediately, but some do. This is usually from a too-fast heart rhythm (ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation), but can also be from a heart attack-induced very slow heart rhythm, or from the heart just not being able to pump because too much of it is being damaged.
Approximately 20 years of life are free of heart disease and 6.7 are spent with heart disease with 2.4 of those after having had a heart attack and 4.3 with heart disease but not having had a heart attack. Women at age 50 average 31 years in total with about 23 heart-disease free years.
Most people survive their first heart attack and return to their normal lives to enjoy many more years of productive activity. But having a heart attack does mean you need to make some changes in your life.
The answer to that is not straightforward. While a heart attack can be a life-threatening event, many people go on to live full and healthy lives after recovery. However, life expectancy may decrease by 8-10% of your expected life. Age is a major factor on which life expectancy depends after a heart attack.
Several health conditions, your lifestyle, and your age and family history can increase your risk for heart disease and heart attack. These are called risk factors. About half of all Americans have at least one of the three key risk factors for heart disease: high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking.
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of heart attacks. CHD is a condition in which the coronary arteries (the major blood vessels that supply the heart with blood) become clogged with deposits of cholesterol. These deposits are called plaques.
They Know They're Dying
Dying is a natural process that the body has to work at. Just as a woman in labor knows a baby is coming, a dying person may instinctively know death is near. Even if your loved one doesn't discuss their death, they most likely know it is coming.
Usually, the first sign of SCA is loss of consciousness (fainting). This happens when the heart stops beating. Some people may have a racing heartbeat or feel dizzy or light-headed just before they faint. And sometimes people have chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, or vomiting in the hour before they have an SCA.
Researchers suspect sleep apnea causes abnormal heart rhythms, which lead to sudden cardiac death, for a number of reasons. “Sleep apnea may lower oxygen levels, activate the fight-or-flight response and change pressure in the chest when the upper airway closes, stressing the heart mechanically,” he explains.
Even though part of it may have been severely injured, the rest of the heart keeps working. But, because of the damage, your heart may be weakened, and unable to pump as much blood as usual. With proper treatment and lifestyle changes after a heart attack, further damage can be limited or prevented.