Q. What is the difference between a heart attack and heart failure?
Doctor Answer is medically reviewed by SecondMedic medical review team.
Heart attack and heart failure are two different cardiac conditions that can cause similar symptoms, but have very distinct differences.
A heart attack is a condition caused when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is decreased or stopped due to plaque buildup in coronary arteries, which can obstruct and block blood flow. This causes the death of that part of the muscle if it’s not treated immediately. It can lead to permanent damage, disability or even death if not quickly addressed through medical treatments such as angioplasty with stenting, bypass surgery, clot-dissolving medications such as tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) and advanced imaging technology such as computed tomography or ultrasound.
On the other hand, heart failure occurs when parts of your heart become weakened due to interrupted circulation in one's veins and/or arteries leading from your lungs or body into your heart muscle. As a result, not enough oxygenated blood passes through your system for normal functioning— causing strain on other organs such as lungs where oxygenated blood should be meeting increased demands for nutrients and processes like respiration. Symptoms may include fatigue, swelling in legs / arms / abdomen due to fluid build up within tissues; redness lips/fingertips accompanied by chest pains as well sudden changes in pressure (fainting). Common treatments involve angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), beta blockers which helps relax muscles around blocked vessels allowing more efficient clearing out of accumulated fluids; then there are diuretic medications used reduce edema per doctor's advice too!