Alan Thicke's Death: How Do Heart Attacks Kill So Fast?

Actor Alan Thicke on the opening of the Santa Barbara Worldwide Movie Competition in 2013.

Credit score: Terry Straehley/Shutterstuck.com

Actor Alan Thicke died after a coronary heart assault on Tuesday, TMZ reported. However why do some individuals survive coronary heart assaults, whereas others do not?

Coronary heart assaults happen when blood stream to the center muscle is blocked, ravenous the muscle tissue of oxygen, which causes injury. Thicke, who was 69, was taking part in ice hockey together with his son when he suffered his coronary heart assault on Dec. 13. The "Rising Pains" star was pronounced lifeless shortly afterward within the hospital.

For a coronary heart assault to rapidly result in dying, the injury to the center must be nice sufficient to trigger the center to beat irregularly and finally cease solely, mentioned Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventive heart specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York Metropolis. Steinbaum was not concerned in Thicke's case.  

The irregular heartbeats that consequence from the shortage of oxygen begin from the underside of the center, and are not sturdy sufficient to generate blood stream, Steinbaum instructed Reside Science. When this happens, "the center turns into very agitated," she mentioned. [Heart of the Matter: 7 Things to Know About Your Ticker]

The heartbeat turns into extra of a quiver than a decisive pump, which can be known as fibrillation, and blood stops flowing, Steinbaum mentioned. This could rapidly result in the center stopping, she mentioned.

However coronary heart assaults do not at all times kill immediately.

It is also attainable that the injury to the center muscle would not result in an irregular heartbeat till a short time after the center assault occurred, Steinbaum mentioned.

And an individual may also die from a coronary heart assault that causes no irregular heartbeat in any respect — the center muscle might be so broken from the shortage of oxygen that the center can not pump sufficient blood, which may result in dying, she mentioned.  

For dying to happen instantly or shortly after a coronary heart assault, there needed to be a really massive blockage that broken quite a lot of the center muscle, Steinbaum added.

Threat components and signs

It is unclear what signs and threat components Thicke had, if any, earlier than his coronary heart assault.

However individuals can have a coronary heart assault even when there have been no signs main as much as it, Steinbaum mentioned.

Typically when this occurs, the center assault is the results of a ruptured plaque in an individual's artery, Steinbaum mentioned. Plaques are buildups of ldl cholesterol and inflammatory cells that kind alongside the wall of a blood vessel, partially blocking it. If a plaque ruptures, the physique sends platelets to repair the rupture, which ends up in extra blockage that finally cuts off blood stream to the center, she mentioned.

It's attainable that train, which causes an individual's coronary heart price and blood strain to extend, can result in a ruptured plaque, she mentioned.

However this doesn't suggest that individuals should not train, Steinbaum mentioned. Moderately, this is the reason you at all times hear, "Seek the advice of along with your physician earlier than beginning an train program," she mentioned. When an individual workouts, the physique's demand for oxygen goes up, and if an individual has a blockage of their arteries, it is exhausting to get sufficient oxygen. This could trigger signs of a coronary heart assault, she mentioned. 

Steinbaum mentioned that coronary heart illness is preventable 80 p.c of the time. Coronary heart assaults often stem from an individual's threat components, akin to hypertension, excessive ldl cholesterol and a sedentary life-style, she mentioned. Age additionally performs a task: For males, threat of a coronary heart assault goes up after age 55, she mentioned. 

Initially revealed on Reside Science.

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