Are You at Risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)?
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, so it is important to understand the symptoms of Sudden Cardiac Arrest and see if you are at risk.
What is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?
Sudden Cardiac Arrest, more commonly called Congestive Heart Failure is when the heart suddenly stops beating. It starts when the ventricles of the heart start quivering very quickly, which results in the heart not able to pump blood efficiently to the rest of the body.
The American Heart Association states that nearly 900 people a day experience SCA, correlating to over 325,000 people a year. The European Society of Cardiology claims that SCA is the single most important cause of death among adults of the industrialized world.
While the heart can be “reset” to a normal rhythm within with a sock from an external defibrillator or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), it must be done within 4 to 6 minutes of onset of SCA, otherwise there is little chance of survival.
What are the symptoms of SCA?
Sudden Cardiac Arrest occurs with little to no warning, but there are clear symptoms of the disease: including sudden collapse, loss of consciousness, abnormal breathing, and an inability to find a pulse and loss of blood pressure.
What can I do to prevent Sudden Cardiac Arrest?
Many risk factors of Sudden Cardiac Arrest are manageable and involve lifestyle changes. Changing these aspects to your lifestyle these can greatly reduce your chances of having this condition:
- Stress
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Cigarette smoking
- Excess weight
- Drug or alcohol abuse
- High fat diet
- Sedentary lifestyle
St. Jude Medical has set up a website with a lot of excellent information, including a complete list of risk factors, tutorials and videos on how the heart works, and an assessment worksheet to see if you’re at risk for this disease. It also tells you what you should do if you see someone who is having a heart attack.