Onset of heart attack: warning signs

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Extract from the article: L’infarctus désigne « l’obstruction d’une ou de plusieurs artères coronaires, qui sont les artères nourricières du cœur. Celui-ci n’est donc plus approvisionné en sang et en oxygène. Cette obstruction résulte, dans la grande majorité des cas, de la r

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A heart attack is defined as « the blockage of one or more coronary arteries, the arteries that feed the heart. As a result, the heart is no longer supplied with blood and oxygen. In the vast majority of cases, this obstruction results from the rupture of an atheromatous plaque, corresponding to the development of fats on the artery walls », explains Pr René Baragou, Head of Cardiology at the Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital in Lomé and President of the Togo Cardiology Society. While almost all adults have atherosclerotic plaque, certain factors speed up the onset of these plaques, putting people at greater risk of heart attacks, such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, excess animal fats, overweight and obesity.

A heart attack without symptoms?

« In the majority of cases of heart attack, the presence of more or less typical symptoms can be a warning sign. But there are some heart attacks that go unnoticed because there are no warning signs: this is known as the silent infarction or asymptomatic infarction. It's often seen in people with diabetes, because their pain is so attenuated », says Professor René Baragou, Head of Cardiology at Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital. This reduced perception of symptoms may be due to a complication of diabetes: in fact, diabetic neuropathy is a pathology that affects the body's nerves and considerably disrupts sensitivity to pain.

So how can it be detected? During an electrocardiogram. Hence the importance of regular cardiological monitoring for people at risk.

Abel OZIH