Cardiac Arrest & Heart Attack – Are they the same?

Michael Jackson died of a cardiac arrest, while Larry King & Dick Cheney survived it. However, all three of them fainted, nauseated & sweated hard. So how did they survive while Jackson died. The secret is the difference between the two terms: “cardiac arrest” & “heart attack”.

Symptoms may be, but these two are not the same at all. Yet they are connected to each other. Let’s look at what these are:
 

Cardiac Arrest?  

Cardiac Arrest (Cardiopulmonary arrest) occurs when heart malfunctions and its beating stops unpredictably. Cardiac arrest is like a problem in an electrical circuit, like a short circuit.
Cardiac arrest is usually stimulated by a malfunction in the system that causes an arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), which disrupts the pumping of blood to the brain, lungs and other organs.
 
In a few seconds the person becomes insensitive and is only gasping, not breathing. Without treatment the person can die within minutes. In the United States, around 30,000 people die every year because of cardiac arrest.
  
What is Heart Attack?

Heart Attck (Myocardial infarction) occurs when there is some problem or blockage in the blood circulation system. Heart attack is like a clog in the blood stream.
Usually arteries get clogged by fat or waste in the blood stream and hence fresh oxygen doesn’t reach some parts of the heart. If the blocked artery is not cleared soon, the part of the heart maintained by that artery can die.
 
During a heart attack a person feels discomfort in the chest or lungs & the upper body, breaths fast, sweats, and also may feel nauseated. Often, symptoms persist for hours or days before a heart attack. Usually during a heart attack, the heart does not stop beating. However, if not treated immediately, heart attack can be fatal.

Most cardiac arrests are triggered by heart attacks, but not all. Other factors which can disturb the rhythm of the heart can lead to cardiac arrest.