Michael Jackson’s Death & Heart Awareness

It’s all over the news – the death of musical legend Michael Jackson from cardiac arrest. It’s such big news that it not only overshadowed the death of actress Farrah Fawcett from anal cancer, but many other news items as well.

What many people are asking is, how can a man of 50 years old die of a cardiac arrest? Without delving into the issues Michael Jackson had with pain medications and supposed addictions, heart attacks and cardiac arrests at 50 aren’t as uncommon as you may think. And, if your lifestyle isn’t the healthiest, the chances of heart attacks rise.

So, what is a cardiac arrest?

Blue is for blood that needs oxygen, red is blood that has been oxygenated.

As the name implies, a cardiac arrest is the cessation, or stopping, of the heart. It’s not really the same thing as a heart attack because when you have a heart attack, heart cells and heart tissues may die, but your heart may keep on going. In fact, you could have a “silent” heart attack, where your heart is damaged, but you have no signs or symptoms.

Sudden cardiac arrest happens when the signs and symptoms start but the length of time between their onset and death is very short. Or – there are no symptoms.

What causes a cardiac arrest?

Most often, a cardiac arrest is caused by heart disease that already exists (underlying heart disease) – although it’s possible that you don’t know about the disease if you have no symptoms.

Unlike popular belief, the heart doesn’t just stop beating though – as dramatic as that is, it doesn’t usually happen. What does happen is the heart, which usually beats in a steady rhythm with a set course, begins to beat very quickly and ineffectively.

To understand how the heart works, you have to understand how the heart is made. There are four chambers in the heart. The top two are the atria (right atrium and left atrium), the bottom two are the ventricles (right and left). These are all connected with one-way valves that allow blood to flow where it’s supposed to go and not in the opposite direction.

After your blood has gone through your body, it has distributed oxygen and nutrients throughout to your body tissues – it now needs to be re-oxygenated. The right side of the heart takes in this blood while the left side takes in the freshly oxygenated blood, coming from the lungs.

But how does it beat?

The heartbeat starts with an electrical impulse that triggers the right atrium to contract. This then starts a chain reaction. The blood is pumped from the upper atrium to the lower ventricle and the electrical impulse continues as well, to get the rest of the heart going.

In sudden cardiac arrest, something goes wrong with the electrical impulse and it starts to misfire, in many cases causing the heart to beat uncontrollably and ineffectively. It can beat very, very quickly, but not push blood through as it should. This then causes the heart to stop. When the heart beats too quickly, this is called tachycardia.

Or, the misfiring could case bradycardia, which is what happens when the heartbeat drops lower than normal.

There are, of course, other reasons why the heart may stop suddenly, like electrical shock or trauma to the chest.

Once cardiac arrest has occurred, the only thing that can bring the victim back to life is the quick start of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (the new Hands-Only CPR) and, if appropriate and available, use of a defibrillator.

What are the symptoms of cardiac arrest?

Sadly, some people don’t have any symptoms, but those who do may show signs of:

According to the American Heart Association, signs of a cardiac arrest are:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

• Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness

• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.

Would you know what to do?

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Images courtesy of Bauer-Griffen, PhotoXpress.com, iStock.com