Photo: contrastwerkstatt - Fotolia.com
Help in an emergency
Those who correctly interpret and warn the warning signals have a good chance of recovery
Hildegard Schrenz (64) has been struggling with sore throat for weeks. Then she suddenly felt an unbearable pressure on her chest. She panicked and called the ambulance. In the clinic, doctors prescribed their painkillers and sent them to the ear, nose and throat doctor ... When Hildegard Schrenz was hospitalized a few days later, the doctors stated that the woman had suffered a heart attack weeks ago.
Vera Regitz-Zagrosek, cardiologist at the Berlin Charité, knows many such cases. "In the past it was said that heart attack was a male disease, but we treat more and more patients, " she says. Around 130, 000 women suffer a heart attack every year, and the number is rising. And: Every second person dies as a result! Also because the diagnosis is made too late.
The problem: In women, the heart attack announces a different. That's why they underestimate their own risk. Men often feel the typical tightness, the stabbing pain in the chest. Therefore, they can quickly express the suspicion of heart attack .
In women, the symptoms are often less clear. Many complain of shortness of breath, nausea or upper abdominal pain. The infarction can be accompanied by severe sweats and back pain. Some pass out because the heart pumps only weakly and the blood pressure drops sharply.
If the emergency occurs, every second counts. Our tips:
• Even with the slightest suspicion: select the "112".
• Express the suspicion of a heart attack right on the phone.
• Enter your exact address. Then the ambulance will be on site in a few minutes.
• Until he comes, you can open the windows to get enough oxygen.
• Keep the upper body upright and sit still, then the blood will not flow into the legs and the heart will not be charged extra.
• Eat and drink as much as possible.
Doctors can quickly determine in the clinic with an ECG whether it is actually an infarction. On the monitor, they detect whether the vessels leading to the heart are blocked. If this is the case, the heart muscle cells will die as they are not adequately supplied with oxygen. If there are too many, a heart attack can be fatal.
However, if you treat it in time, two methods can save your life: either the blood clot is dissolved by blood-thinning medication. Or a catheter opens it so that blood can be pumped back into the heart.
Especially women from the age of 60 years should be well-protected. Female hormones only protect women's hearts until shortly after menopause. But with daily exercise and the right nutrients, they can protect themselves well. A basket full of blue, blackcurrant and blackberries a week relaxes the vessels close to the heart. If you eat a pear or an apple every day, it lowers your blood pressure. Three lemons a week prevent vascular blockages. A handful of pecans daily reduces the risk of heart attack by 35 percent.
