Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with GoogleGet your health question answered instantly from our pool of 18000+ doctors from over 80 specialties
Are Cardiac Arrest And Heart Attacks The Same ?
Hi Sir,
Through out the internet i have been reading about cardiac arrest and heart attacks....I want to know are both the same or two different things.
Plus my grandfather died a few years back when he was on a trip and none of our family memebers were around him, so only with the aftermaths we realized he had a heart attack, we wr informed by the doctors that he had a "Massive heart attack". Also he had some internal bleeding in his brain acompanied with blood from his mouth, nose and ears. though he had no habits of drinking neither was he under any medical supervision or drugs, infact he used to practise yoga every morning and had been fit till his last.
So if anyone could tell me what exactly happened to him would be highly useful to me and my family...and would have triggered the heart attack...
Through out the internet i have been reading about cardiac arrest and heart attacks....I want to know are both the same or two different things.
Plus my grandfather died a few years back when he was on a trip and none of our family memebers were around him, so only with the aftermaths we realized he had a heart attack, we wr informed by the doctors that he had a "Massive heart attack". Also he had some internal bleeding in his brain acompanied with blood from his mouth, nose and ears. though he had no habits of drinking neither was he under any medical supervision or drugs, infact he used to practise yoga every morning and had been fit till his last.
So if anyone could tell me what exactly happened to him would be highly useful to me and my family...and would have triggered the heart attack...
posted on
Sun, 21 Jul 2013
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Mon, 22 Jul 2013
Answered on
Sat, 27 Jul 2013
Last reviewed on
Hi friend,
Welcome to Health Care Magic
These are layman’s terms and mean different things to different people.
An attack generally means death of a portion of heart muscle – usually from block in the arteries...
An arrest is stopping of the action... heart stops to contract – it may be a problem of the nerve – like disorderly beating or from heart attack.
Unless a post-mortem was done, no definite conclusion is possible – only conjecture...
Proper medical terminology is necessary for related guidance...
Usually inherited factors and acquired factors go together to cause a catastrophe...
From preventive point of view, you should approach an Internist and have your risk factors assessed...
Take care
May his soul rest in peace..
God bless
Good luck
Welcome to Health Care Magic
These are layman’s terms and mean different things to different people.
An attack generally means death of a portion of heart muscle – usually from block in the arteries...
An arrest is stopping of the action... heart stops to contract – it may be a problem of the nerve – like disorderly beating or from heart attack.
Unless a post-mortem was done, no definite conclusion is possible – only conjecture...
Proper medical terminology is necessary for related guidance...
Usually inherited factors and acquired factors go together to cause a catastrophe...
From preventive point of view, you should approach an Internist and have your risk factors assessed...
Take care
May his soul rest in peace..
God bless
Good luck
I find this answer helpful
1 Doctor agrees with this answer
Hi,
Cardiac arrest and heart attack are related ,but different entities.Heart attack is one of the many possible causes for an cardiac arrest.To make it simple,cardiac arrest is stoppage of heart and heart attack is damage to heart.A damaged heart still functions,though sometimes submaximally.A arrested heart does not function.
Heart attack results as a result of occlusion of the blood vessel supplying the heart.A person is completely asymptomatic till the vessel is 70% occluded.Even after that not everyone becomes symptomatic.Few of them experience symptoms like effort angina etc.For some of them the very first symptom occurs after 100% occlusion of the vessel.This 100% occlusion is what results in a heart attack and unless the blood supply is restored either spontaneously or by treatment,more and more of the heart muscles will be damaged eventually resulting in cardiac arrest.A massive heart attack refers to damage to a high percentage of the heart.
It is unfortunate that your grand father belonged to the later category.And hence died suddenly inspite of being fit till the last.
Cardiac arrest and heart attack are related ,but different entities.Heart attack is one of the many possible causes for an cardiac arrest.To make it simple,cardiac arrest is stoppage of heart and heart attack is damage to heart.A damaged heart still functions,though sometimes submaximally.A arrested heart does not function.
Heart attack results as a result of occlusion of the blood vessel supplying the heart.A person is completely asymptomatic till the vessel is 70% occluded.Even after that not everyone becomes symptomatic.Few of them experience symptoms like effort angina etc.For some of them the very first symptom occurs after 100% occlusion of the vessel.This 100% occlusion is what results in a heart attack and unless the blood supply is restored either spontaneously or by treatment,more and more of the heart muscles will be damaged eventually resulting in cardiac arrest.A massive heart attack refers to damage to a high percentage of the heart.
It is unfortunate that your grand father belonged to the later category.And hence died suddenly inspite of being fit till the last.
I find this answer helpful
1 Doctor agrees with this answer
Disclaimer: These answers are for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.
This is a short, free answer.
For a more detailed, immediate answer, try our premium service
[Sample answer]
Related questions you may be interested in
Recent questions on Cardiovascular disease
Loading Online Doctors....