Family Casebook

Apr 13 2008 Dr Gareth Smith

Heart Attacks

ONE in three deaths in Scotland is caused by coronary heart disease.

But a large proportion of these could be prevented by a few simple lifestyle changes.

A heart attack occurs when one or more of the arteries that take blood around the heart muscle becomes blocked.

This stops the blood taking oxygen to the muscle and a part of the heart dies.

The blockage is usually caused by a build up of fat in the wall of the artery, which is due to smoking and high cholesterol.

If the part of the heart that regulates the beat gets damaged, the heart can suddenly stop, causing sudden death.

Sometimes the blockage can be reduced using a small balloon known as an angioplasty but if it is very severe it has to be bypassed with an operation.

Don't be one of the 250,000 Scots who will have a heart attack this year - give up the fags and cut out the fat.