Sudden cardiac death is an unexpected, sudden death caused by cardiac arrest, preceded by an unexpected loss of consciousness. It usually occurs within an hour of the first symptoms appear in a person with known or latent heart disease.
Sudden cardiac deathmost often affects people who suffer fromheart disease . The particularly high-risk group includes people who have experiencedcardiac arrest , suffer from ischemic heart disease, have had a history ofheart attackor who detectedheart failure .
What can you do to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death?
Since CAD is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death, risk factors coincide with the risk of developing CAD, so prevention is similar. It is true that we have no influence on some of these factors (such as gender or age), but on others (smoking, diet).
People at risk of heart disease should take appropriate medications that may prevent sudden cardiac death in the future. These are, among others statins (lipid-lowering), aldosterone antagonists, beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and diuretics.
ImportantCharacteristics of sudden cardiac death
- natural - as a result of biological processes, not external
- sudden - no more than 60 minutes elapse from the onset of symptoms to death.
- cardiac - unlike other causes of sudden death, e.g. massive pulmonary embolism or stroke, the cause is cardiac pathology and the vast majority of it is arrhythmic
- unexpected - the person did not suffer from heart disease before or, if they did, their condition was so stable that it did not predict death
Causes of sudden cardiac death
In over 80 percent The cause of sudden cardiac death is coronary heart disease and a history of myocardial infarction. This mainly affects middle-aged and older people. Many of them are unaware that the disease has already wreaked havoc on their bodies. In every fifth person with coronary heart disease, sudden death is the first and, unfortunately, the last symptom of the disease. Sudden cardiac death can lead to:
- cardiomyopathies
- genetic diseases (long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome, catecholamine-dependent polymorphic ventricular tachycardia)
- idiopathic ventricular fibrillation
- aortic stenosis
- mitral valve prolapse
- abnormal departure of the coronary arteries
- muscle bridges over the coronary arteries
- Torsade de pointes
- sinus node disease
- conduction disturbance through the atrioventricular node
- congestive heart failure
- some pro-arrhythmic drugs.
Magnesium deficiency, metabolic disorders, cardiac arrhythmias associated with the central nervous system, vascular or heart inflammation can also contribute to sudden cardiac death.
The probability of sudden cardiac death is always determined by the primary heart disease
The specificity of sudden cardiac death is that it is completely natural - it arises as a result of natural biological processes, it is not caused by external factors or traumas. Often, a blood clot in the main blood vessels is fatal that blocks the blood flow.
ImportantEvery year, the problem of sudden cardiac death affects over 60 you. Poles. As many as 40 thousand Poles die of a heart attack every year due to delay in providing professional help. At least a dozen or so thousand of them could be saved if resuscitation action was undertaken on time.