What is a heart attack?
A heart attack is when the blood flow to the heart is stopped, usually by a blockage such as a blood clot, which prevents the heart from working properly.
How is a heart attack treated?
It is very important that the blood is helped to flow back into the heart as quickly as possible. This limits the permanent damage done to this vital organ. Treatments include:
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Thrombolysis
An alternative effective emergency treatment for heart attack is called thrombolysis. It is a drug which is injected as soon as possible after the heart attack to dissolve the clot (or blockage) to the heart. This will clear the artery either partially or temporarily, allowing doctors more time to look more closely at the patient’s heart.
The key to successful results in treating heart attack is short times to treatment. The longer it takes to get treatment, the more damage occurs to the heart muscle.