Cardiac Arrest: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention

Sudden Cardiac Arrest happens when your heart suddenly stops beating. This is the condition when blood stops flowing to your brain and other vital organs. Sudden cardiac arrest often causes death within minutes. However, in time treatment with a defibrillator may prove life-saving. 

According to an estimate, around four thousand people have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the country every year, and about 70 to 80% die before reaching hospital. Survival rate is very low and the victims of cardiac arrest if survive may experience:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and psychological distress.
• Injury to internal organs.
• Brain injury.

Cardiac arrest is not synonymous with heart attack (myocardial infarction), inflammation of the outer lining of the heart (pericarditis), or inflammation of heart muscles (myocarditis). 

What is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

When your heart beats at a high rate or stops beating leading to the stopping of pumping blood, the condition is called cardiac arrest. The condition makes people collapse and unresponsive. It has no warning sign. That’s called sudden cardiac arrest. This is a life-threatening condition that can be fatal if you can’t get immediate treatment.

Studies showed that cardiac arrest is actually a cardiopulmonary arrest. In this condition, your heart cannot pump blood anymore. The interruption in blood flow puts your organs and whole body at risk of death because they need a continuous supply of oxygen mixed with blood. Blood delivers oxygen to all parts or even cells of your body. In this condition, the only thing you need is emergency treatment which may be in the form of defibrillation or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The latter helps keep enough oxygen in your lungs and carries it to your brain until an electric shock restores a normal heartbeat. Thus, these two emergency treatments can help save your life.

Moreover, you can call local emergency services if you don’t find anyone near you to help the patient you suspect yourself in cardiac arrest danger. Faster medical help can increase the chances of survival with good health outcomes.

Is There any Difference between Cardiac Arrest and Heart Attack?

Yes, a heart attack is different from cardiac arrest because a heart attack happens when your heart doesn’t get enough blood according to its requirement and the blood flow to the heart is blocked. During a heart attack your heart doesn’t stop beating at once but in cardiac arrest, your heart suddenly stops beating due to a blocked blood supply to your brain. Research explained that cardiac arrest often happens during or after recovery from myocardial infarction (heart attack). 

Is Cardiac Arrest a Common Condition?

A large number of people around the world experience cardiac arrest each year. They are often outside of the hospital and lose their lives before getting medical assistance. The condition can affect all ages but it typically affects adults. However, studies report that it also happens in children but it’s rare.

Sudden cardiac arrest can affect all types of people, including with and without heart disease. However, having a heart condition or a heart attack in the past can increase the risk significantly.

Symptoms of Cardiac Arrest

Common symptoms of cardiac arrest include:

• Heart palpitations.
• Fainting or loss of consciousness.
• Weakness.
• Lightheadedness.
• Dizziness.

However, in most cases, sudden cardiac arrest happens without preceding any signs or symptoms.

In addition, studies explain that before you faint due to cardiac arrest, you may have some other signs of cardiac arrest, such as:

• Shortness of breath.
• Chest pain.
• Vomiting and nausea.

Causes of Cardiac Arrest

Arrhythmias are the common cause of cardiac arrest. Arrhythmias is the abnormal heart rhythm that happens before a cardiac arrest. It is characterized as rapid and abnormal pulses that abruptly override your normal electrical impulses that usually control your normal heartbeat. 

In addition, ventricular fibrillation, an erratic and disorganized firing of impulses from your heart’s ventricles (lower chambers), is a common life-threatening arrhythmia that leads to sudden cardiac arrest. This condition stops your heart from pumping blood. Stopped heart beating makes it impossible to transport oxygen-rich blood to the rest of your body. If you don’t have immediate treatment, you can die within minutes.

However, research has helped by explaining the situations and conditions that can lead to such abnormal heart rhythms which become the underlying causes of cardiac arrest. These include:

• Severe injury (trauma) or illness with major blood loss.
• Heart attack.
• Brugada syndrome.
• Cardiomyopathy.
• Long QT syndrome.
• Heart failure.
• Recreational drugs, like cocaine or morphine.
• Drugs for other medical conditions.
• Some other causes of cardiac arrest are:
• Infectious diseases.
• Toxins through eating or drinking poisonous substances.
• Coronary artery disease (CAD).
• Severe injury.
• Respiratory conditions.
• Congenital heart diseases.
• Extreme blood loss or strenuous physical activities.
• Changes to your heart’s structure due to any infection or disease.

Some of these causes actually lower the oxygen levels in your blood or reduce the volume of blood as well. These reasons cause an interruption in your heart function.

Risk Factors for Cardiac Arrest

Here are some signs that can indicate that you’re at higher risk of cardiac arrest:

• Having certain arrhythmias after a heart attack.
• Having heart failure from certain conditions like dilated cardiomyopathy.
• Taking recreational drugs or drugs that increase the risk of life-threatening arrhythmias.
• Having a sudden cardiac arrest before in your family.
• Having any heart or blood vessel issues since birth.
• Having a family or personal history of abnormal heart rhythms such as ventricular tachycardia or QT syndrome.
• Having diabetes.
• Having obesity.
• Having heart valve disease.
• Having hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
• Having a history of fainting.
• Having major changes in the amount of magnesium and potassium in your blood. 

Common Complications for Cardiac Arrest

If you’re lucky enough that you have survived cardiopulmonary arrest, you may experience certain medical issues that may continue months or years later. You deal with:

• Mental health issues.
• Cognitive issues.
• Fatigue or depression.

Diagnosis of Cardiac Arrest

Symptoms of cardiac arrest are not so obvious. They often begin suddenly, leaving little time for tests. The condition becomes fatal in minutes. That’s why professional healthcare providers recommend a quick diagnosis. Your symptoms can help to diagnose the condition in the best way, especially if you:

• Become unconscious.
• Aren’t breathing.
• Have no pulse.

Treatment and Management of Cardiac Arrest

Research has confirmed that sudden cardiac arrest can be reversed or treated if the treatment gets started immediately. Researchers said that the survival chances are as high as 90% if you get an in-time treatment within the first minutes after cardiac arrest. But the rate of survival drops 10% each minute. 

Therefore, it is suggested that cardiac arrest can be fatal if it lasts longer than ten minutes without CPR. IoT starts damaging your rain within five minutes of arrest. 

You can help anyone who is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest by:

• Calling for medical emergency help immediately.
• Using an AED (automated external defibrillator) if there’s no one available. CPR plus defibrillation rescues a patient from sudden cardiac arrest. Using AED is the most effective way to help a person to survive after cardiac arrest. The shorter the time until defibrillation, the greater will be the chances of survival.
• Starting CPR, even if it is just the hands-on version. Because CPR is the best option to save a life by using chest compressions to replace the heart’s pumping action. It keeps oxygen and blood circulating until medical help arrives.

On the arrival of emergency personnel, defibrillation helps restart the person’s heart if they haven’t received an AED shock yet. Defibrillator paddles are placed on the patient’s chest to shock the heart. The current travels through the heart to stop the abnormal impulses and restore the normal impulses that make it beat. Sometimes, more than one shock is required for the heart of a patient to pump its blood again.

In addition, healthcare providers may give you antiarrhythmics through an IV (intravenous) in your arm. These precautionary steps help restore their heart; ‘s electrical rhythm. After a defibrillation procedure, people are usually taken to hospital to recover from the effects of sudden cardiac arrest. Doctors in hospitals also help treat and prevent future heart problems.

Side Effects of Cardiac Arrest Treatments

The major side effects of CPR are chest injuries. CPR often causes broken sternum (breastbone) or broken ribs. Sometimes, the patient’s abdomen also gets injured. However, these side effects can be ignored to save someone’s life.

Prevention of Cardiac Arrest

Prevention of cardiac arrest is possible. For example, you can talk with a genetic counselor to prevent future cardiac arrest, if you are confirmed about abnormal heart rhythms running in your family. Your healthcare providers may help you identify those who are at risk or need testing for an issue that can cause arrhythmia. Different tests can help you learn whether you’re at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. 

In addition, future episodes of cardiac arrest can also be prevented. But for this purpose, your doctor may want to do tests to figure out what are the causes of your cardiac problems. These tests may include:

• Electrophysiology study.
• Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG).
• Cardiac catheterization.
• Echocardiogram.
• Heart MRI.

Here is a list of treatment options that can help prevent cardiac arrest or lower your risk of a second episode:

• Angioplasty.
• Medicines like beta-blockers.
• Implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
• Fixing heart artery blockages with coronary artery bypass surgery.
• Certain arrhythmia treatments in susceptible people.

Working on the risk factors can help prevent more episodes of the condition. This means you can manage the conditions that put you at risk, including diabetes and high blood pressure., and living a healthy life. To achieve this goal you should:

• Avoid tobacco products.
• Eat heart-healthy foods.

Outlook or Prognosis

After a treatment procedure, complications often happen to the patient of cardiac events. Therefore, as a heart patient, you have to go back to the hospital many times. Long-term heart diseases also compel you to have a varied outlook, depending on how quickly you receive medical treatment. If you succeed in surviving sudden cardiac arrest, you may need help to regain the skills you had before your cardiac issue. This is because you can have brain damage if too many minutes pass without oxygen supply to your brain. 

According to a medical survey report, 8 out of 10 people who survive cardiac events have permanent brain damage from lack of oxygen. That’s why people who survive cardiopulmonary arrest experience changes in their daily lives and abilities. After a successful survival from cardiac arrest, you may experience:

• Vision problems. Like a blurry vision.
• Dysphagia (swallowing problems).
• Muscle weakness.
• Unusual behaviors, such as being impulsive.
• Ataxia, problems in movement and coordination.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Stroke.
• Forgetfulness.
• Seizures.
• Speech disorders.
• Fatigue.
• Coma and persistent vegetative state.

Early CPR and defibrillation can help lower the risk of brain damage. 

How to Live with Cardiac Arrest Risk?

Cardiac arrest is associated with brain damage. Low levels of oxygen may increase the risk of brain damage during a cardiac event. Thus, surviving from sudden cardiac arrest is the start of a long recovery journey. You can use rehabilitation programs to regain your abilities. However, it is a time-consuming procedure and takes months to relearn once-simple activities like getting dressed, walking, and carrying some weight. Sometimes it’s easy to return to your daily return but often you need ongoing help.

However, it is suggested that being patient with yourself while you slowly get back to doing things you do every day is an effective way to regain your lost abilities. 

Many studies support that survivors of cardiopulmonary arrest are seen with improved quality of life after six months of treatment. 

Moreover, researchers also claimed that surviving a life-threatening condition can cause mental health challenges in survivors like post-intensive care syndrome. This is recommended to have mental health services to cope with such problems, including:

• Stress.
• Anxiety.
• Depression.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Conclusion

Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a serious and fatal condition that often proves life-threatening. Recovery from this condition takes time and includes many therapies to regain the lost abilities. Ongoing heart care can help the survivors to prevent other episodes of cardiac arrest. To avoid another cardiac arrest event, you should follow up on your appointments, keep taking prescribed medicines, and take a PCR class regularly.