If you suddenly suffer a myocardial infarction at home, what can you do to save yourself correctly?

Many people think that summer is the "off-season" for cardiovascular diseases, but this is not actually the case. When Huazi was on night shift, he found that there were always patients with myocardial infarction coming to the hospital for treatment at four or five in the morning.

Because the days are long and the nights are short in summer, and the temperature is hot, many people sleep less. Lack of sleep can lead to high blood pressure, and "morning peak hypertension" is prone to occur in the early morning. The combination of the two can easily induce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. If a myocardial infarction occurs at home, how can you save yourself correctly and what medicine can you use?

1. How to determine whether myocardial infarction has occurred

Correctly diagnosing myocardial infarction is the first step to successful self-help . The typical symptom of myocardial infarction is chest pain , but half of the people do not have obvious chest pain symptoms. They may just feel a sense of pressure in the chest and feel very uncomfortable.

Some people also experience atypical symptoms when suffering a myocardial infarction, such as pain in other parts of the body, such as back, shoulders, arms, neck, stomach pain, and even toothache.

People over 40 who have the habit of smoking, or have chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes, must be wary of myocardial infarction when they experience chest pain, chest tightness, or unexplained pain in other parts of the body .

2. Avoid misunderstandings when self-help for myocardial infarction

Some people say that when a heart attack occurs, coughing hard or beating your chest hard can save your life. These two methods are not the right way to save yourself, but may accelerate the progression of the disease. When a myocardial infarction occurs, you should try to reduce your activities to avoid increasing the burden on your heart . All you need to do is rest on the spot and call for help.

When resting, it is best to take a semi-recumbent position with your back supported . This is because when a myocardial infarction occurs, the heart will experience acute ischemia and hypoxia, which will affect the pumping function and may lead to heart failure. Lying flat will increase the amount of blood returning to the heart and increase the burden on the heart.

What drugs can be chosen?

People with coronary heart disease should carry nitroglycerin with them and take it sublingually when they experience chest pain or tightness. It can dilate the coronary arteries and improve blood supply to the myocardium.

Note that nitroglycerin is ineffective if swallowed and can only be taken sublingually . The shelf life of nitroglycerin after opening will be shortened to about 3 months, so remember to replace it in time. If you do not feel a "spicy taste" when taking it, it means that the drug has lost its effect.

One thing to note is that nitroglycerin can cause a drop in blood pressure. If the patient is pale and cold, then he is very likely to be in a state of low blood pressure, and nitroglycerin should not be used at this time. If you have a sphygmomanometer, you can measure the blood pressure before taking the medicine. You can take one tablet every 5 minutes. If the chest pain is not relieved after taking 3 tablets, it is very likely that a myocardial infarction has occurred .

If acute myocardial infarction is confirmed, you can chew 3 tablets of aspirin (100 mg/tablet) to enhance the inhibition of platelets, which may dissolve the newly formed blood clots at the blockage site.

However, it is not recommended to take aspirin on your own , because the disease causing chest pain cannot be diagnosed by yourself. If the chest pain is caused by aortic dissection, taking aspirin will aggravate the disease and increase the risk of death.

A safer medication plan is to call "120" for emergency treatment in time, and take the medicine under the guidance of the doctor when the emergency doctor confirms or highly suspects acute myocardial infarction.

4. Seek medical attention as soon as possible to save myocardial cells

If you suspect you have a myocardial infarction, call "120" for emergency treatment immediately and do not go to the hospital on your own . If you have an oxygen device at home, you can use it first to reduce myocardial damage.

If the emergency doctor diagnoses you with acute myocardial infarction, he will help you choose the nearest hospital that can perform heart stenting and has thrombolysis conditions. Please trust the doctor's choice and do not choose a doctor on your own . After a myocardial infarction, the sooner the blood vessels are reopened , the better. 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours will all lead to completely different results.

If surgery is needed, family members should sign without hesitation and should not wait for "acquaintances" . If it exceeds 6 hours, the ischemic myocardial cells will all die, and even the most skilled doctors will not be able to save the patient.

In summary, people over 40 years old, smokers, and those with "three highs" should also be on guard against myocardial infarction in the summer. Learning to distinguish the symptoms of myocardial infarction and mastering the relevant knowledge of self-rescue can save your life at a critical moment. Elderly people with underlying diseases can store their medical insurance cards, bank cards, medical records and other related items together, so that they can be taken away quickly when something happens to buy time for rescue. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.