“What happens in a person to trigger a myocardial infarction?”
While I already know the symptoms of a myocardial infarction, I am curious to know what exactly happens in a person to trigger the condition.
6 Answers
Myocardial infarction is caused by blockage of the heart arteries. Usually the plaque in the heart artery ruptures which causes blood clot formation and blockage of the artery. Many factors contribute to that including physical or emotional stress specially if you have the risk factors for heart disease including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Diabetes and smoking.
Anything that can increase oxygen demand by the cells in the heart
It is commonly thought that stress or exertion can precipitate a myocardial infarction. However sometimes there are no specific causes that can trigger a myocardial infarction. It is not uncommon for patients to say they were resting in bed, awakened during sleep or siting in a chair and suddenly experienced chest pain or shortness of breath. Patients can have progressive plaque buildup and when it reaches a critical level, or disruption of a plaque, this can cause sudden symptoms.
Many factors contribute to the risk factors for myocardial infarction (MI). Currently, we believe that it a combination of narrowed coronary arteries from atherosclerosis with damage to the inner lining of the blood vessel that leads to turbulent flow and attraction of inflammatory cells and proteins to the damaged artery. When the blood flow is slow and turbulent enough, and the inflammation significant enough to attract enough platelets, a plug is formed in the artery which blocks the blood flow to that area of heart muscle, causing the muscle cells to die (infarction).
I am not sure what the final trigger is for an individual to have an MI. I suspect it can be different for many individuals. Ultimately, in patients, the underlying disease is atherosclerosis and the risk factors a person has developed over the years like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, lipid disorder, smoking, etc.
Stress.
