Years ago, a heart attack was often life-threatening. Thankfully, that story has changed thanks to cutting-edge research at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF), which has created protocols that allow more people to survive heart attacks than ever before. Today doctors use advancements to open a blocked artery in the heart in just a few minutes. Yet while emergency care has improved dramatically, many people still don’t know they are at risk. Our next challenge is closing the gap between lifesaving treatment and preventive care that avoids heart attacks altogether.
What causes a heart attack?
A heart attack occurs when blood cannot flow to part of the heart. This is usually caused by coronary artery disease, which slowly narrows the arteries that supply the heart with blood. This narrowing is caused by fatty deposits, called plaque, that build up over time. When plaque ruptures, it can trigger a blood clot that blocks blood flow to the heart muscle.
Recognizing the warning signs
Chest pain is the number one symptom of heart attack in men and women. Women may also have additional symptoms of a heart attack. While classic heart attack symptoms — such as severe chest pain; jaw, neck or back pain; nausea and shortness of breath — do occur in women, they may also experience:
- Chest discomfort (not always severe)
- Indigestion
- Fainting
- Extreme fatigue
- A sense that “something isn’t right”
Because these symptoms can be subtle or associated with something else, women may delay seeking care. To make matters worse, research shows that women who arrive to the emergency room with heart symptoms are less likely to be treated as a medical emergency. This makes self-advocating crucial.
Why every minute matters
These symptoms can signal that an artery is completely blocked. When this happens, part of the heart muscle begins to die. This is why time is of the essence — every minute that passes without treatment increases the risk of irreversible damage to the heart.
Speedy treatment to save lives
To help improve heart attack outcomes, the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation established the Level One Program. This treatment protocol was designed to get heart attack patients the help they need in record time, regardless of how far they live from a major hospital. Thanks to this work, whether they arrive at a small community hospital or seek care in a large urban area, patients receive the advanced care needed to survive a heart attack and live a long, productive life.
New tools advancing heart attack care
Several advancements are improving care for heart attack patients. New imaging technologies offer doctors a detailed arterial picture. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) act like tiny cameras inside the heart’s blood vessels. Instead of looking at an X-ray from the outside, these tools provide high-definition pictures from a vessel’s interior. Doctors can see the exact size of a blockage and pinpoint its location and type (fat or calcium) to optimize stent placement. This added information helps reduce complications and improve outcomes.
A stent is a tiny, mesh tube doctors insert into a clogged artery to restore blood flow. Recent developments in stent technology are enhancing safety, reducing long-term complications, and facilitating faster healing. For example, ultrathin-strut drug-eluting stents (DES) are as thin as a human hair, reducing irritation. These stents are also coated with medication to help the heart heal and avoid new blockages. Most stents stay in your body forever, but bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) offer an alternative. Made of a special material that dissolves over time, BRS support the artery as it heals, but leave no permanent metal behind.
Drug-coated balloons (DCB) offer an entirely new alternative to stents. Doctors insert a tiny balloon coated with medicine into the blockage. Once inflated, the balloon presses the medicine into the artery walls to keep it from closing. This gives doctors another way to treat blockages, expanding options for personalized care.
Most procedures to treat blocked arteries enter the body through the femoral artery in the leg or the radial artery in the wrist. Vascular closure devices are new tools that act like a small stitch or plug to immediately seal the entry hole in the artery. This means there is much less bleeding, and patients can walk around and resume activity much sooner, making the recovery process much more comfortable.
Finding the hidden risk
These high-tech tools all exist because of research. In fact, many of the treatments doctors use today were topics of MHIF studies just a few years ago. But even with these advancements, prevention is still the best medicine. There are many steps you can take to protect your heart:
1. Know your risk score
If you’re between the ages of 40-79, ask your doctor about calculating your cardiovascular risk score. It estimates your chance of having a heart attack by considering factors like your age, sex, and health and family history. You can also assess your risk score using this online calculator.
2. Get regular screenings
These simple checks can catch problems early.
- Blood pressure: Have this screened every time you visit the clinic. If it’s high, your doctor may ask you to check it at home, too.
- Cholesterol: A simple blood test measures your LDL, which is your "bad" cholesterol. Recent research shows that keeping your LDL as low as possible for as long as possible is critical for heart health. Because you can’t "feel" high cholesterol, this test is an important way to know your numbers.
- Lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a): This is a special type of cholesterol-carrying particle you genetically inherit. Most people only need to have this checked once in their life with a separate blood test.
3. Screen for hidden plaque
If your cardiovascular disease risk is in the intermediate range, your doctor might suggest a coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan. This is a special X-ray that takes pictures of your heart to look for hard plaque in your arteries. It is one of the best ways to understand your risk for heart disease.
4. Make heart-healthy choices
Up to 80 percent of heart disease can be prevented, and healthy habits are the foundation. This means choosing heart-smart foods, exercising regularly, and avoiding smoking.
Why prevention matters more than ever
Years of research and education are advancing MHIF’s goal to create a world without heart disease. While new protocols and technological tools are there to save heart attack patients, the best treatment will always be prevention. A heart attack should never be your first warning sign. With the right screenings and healthy habits, you can take control of your heart health – before a crisis ever happens.
