What are the causes of heart attack, symptoms, and treatment?

What is a heart attack?
Heart attack is an extremely dangerous condition caused by a lack of blood flow to your heart muscle. The lack of blood flow can occur because of many factors, but is usually related to a blockage in one or more of your heart’s arteries. Without blood flow, the affected heart muscle will begin to die. If blood flow isn’t restored quickly, a heart attack can cause permanent heart damage and death. When a heart attack happens, blood flow to a part of your heart stops or is far below normal, which causes that part of your heart muscle to die.
Causes of a heart attack?
• The vast majority of heart attacks occur because of a blockage in one of the blood vessels that supply your heart. This most often happens because of plaque, a sticky substance that can build up on the insides of arteries. That buildup is called atherosclerosis.
• Heart attacks are possible without a blockage, but this is rare and only accounts for about 5% of all heart attacks. This kind of heart attack can occur for the following reasons:
• Your blood vessels have a muscle lining that allows them to become wider or narrower than needed. Those muscles can sometimes twitch or spasm, cutting off blood flow to the heart muscle.
• Trauma tears or ruptures in the coronary arteries.
• A blood clot or air bubble (embolism) that gets trapped in a coronary artery.
• Having too much or too little of key minerals like potassium in your blood can cause a heart attack.
• Over time, an eating disorder can cause damage to your heart and ultimately result in a heart attack.
• The risk of heart attack can be started at the age of 45 in men and greater than 50 years in women after menopause.
• If you have heart disease in your family, your risk is even higher at an early age. Therefore, the members of this family have to take special care.
• No participation in physical activity.
• Using a diet high in sodium, sugar, and fat.
• Use of smoking or tobacco.
• Excess use of alcohol.
• Hypertension.
• High cholesterol.
• Eating disorders.
Common symptoms of heart attack
• Chest pain (angina).
• Trouble in breathing.
• Stomach discomfort or Nausea.
• Feeling anxiety
• Sweating.
• Feeling lightheaded, dizzy, or passing out.
MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT
How are heart attacks treated?
Treating a heart attack means restoring blood flow to the affected heart muscle as soon as possible. This can happen in a variety of ways, ranging from medication to surgery. Treatment will likely use several of the following methods.
Supplementary oxygen

People having trouble breathing or with low blood oxygen levels will often receive supplementary oxygen along with other heart attack treatments. You can breathe the oxygen either through a tube that sits just below your nose or a mask that fits over your nose and mouth. This increases the amount of oxygen circulating in the blood and reduces the strain on your heart.
Medications
• anti-clotting medications: This includes aspirin and other blood-thinning medicines.
• Nitroglycerin: This medicine is used to relieve chest pain. It also is a powerful vasodilator, meaning it causes blood vessels to widen, so blood can pass through more easily.
• Thrombolytic (clot-busting) medications: These intravenous (IV) medications cause blood clots to break down and dissolve. These medications are usually used only within the first 12 hours after a heart attack.
• Anti-arrhythmia medications: Heart attacks can often cause malfunctions in your heart’s normal beating rhythm, called arrhythmias. Some arrhythmias can be life-threatening. Anti-arrhythmia medications can stop or prevent these malfunctions.
• Pain medications: The most common pain medication given during heart attack care is morphine. This can help alleviate chest pain.
Being an active contributor to your health doesn't mean you have to make lifestyle changes all on your own. Ask your primary care provider and other providers on your healthcare team for help. They can provide the information and resources you need, and point you to services from which you might benefit.