If you have recently been treated for a heart attack a condition caused by a blockage of blood flow to your heart muscle
This video will help you understand the condition and its treatment
Your heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood containing the oxygen and nutrients your body needs
The main pumping chamber of your heart is the left ventricle
When your left ventricle contracts it sends oxygen-rich blood to your body through a large artery called the aorta
Connected to your aorta our small arteries called coronary arteries
Blood flows from your aorta through the coronary arteries to supply your heart muscle with oxygen and nutrients
During your heart attack blood flow through one of your coronary arteries may have been severely reduced or completely blocked
Your reduced blood flow may have been caused by a buildup of a fatty substance called plaque in your coronary arteries
If this plaque became
Disrupted a blood clot might form and severely worsen the narrowing or lead to a sudden complete blockage
Stopping blood flow down the artery
a blockage in your coronary arteries
prevented the oxygen and nutrients in your blood from reaching that part of your heart supplied by the artery as
A result heart muscle in that area started to die
Damage to part of your heart muscle is called a heart attack
It's also known as a myocardial infarction or MI
Your heart doctor may have recommended a procedure to help open the blockage and improve blood flow to the damaged area
The procedure you had may have been a coronary angioplasty
During a coronary angioplasty a balloon tipped catheter inflates inside your blocked coronary artery to open it
The procedure may have involved placing a stent to help prop the artery open
This is usually a thin metal mesh that acts as a scaffold
Or you may have had a coronary artery, bypass graft or CABG
CABG is a surgical procedure in which the blocked areas of the coronary arteries are
Bypassed with veins or other arteries from the body
Before you left the hospital your healthcare provider most likely prescribed several medications
Your medication may include the following
Oral antiplatelet therapy
Helps prevent platelets from sticking together and forming new blood clots
You may have also received drugs called beta blockers that help lower your heart rate and blood pressure
Drugs such as
angiotensin converting enzyme or ACE inhibitors
angiotensin receptor blockers or ARBs and
calcium channel blockers also work to lower your blood pressure, if needed and
You may have been prescribed statins along with a low-fat diet to lower your cholesterol
These drugs work by reducing the amount of cholesterol made in your liver
It is important to stay on your medications as your physician prescribed even if you are feeling better
Do not go off your medication unless the healthcare professional that prescribed them tells you to