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October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month
This October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Awareness Month. The goal of this public awareness month is to educate the general public about the risk of SCA, improve the public's ability to identify warning signs, encourage individuals to seek medical attention in a timely manner and promote the need for further research into the causes of this leading killer.
Hundreds of thousands of lives are lost each year to heart rhythm disorders, and quality of life impacted for millions more. Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs when the heart stops beating, abruptly and without warning. If the heartbeat is not restored with an electrical shock immediately, death follows within minutes. Death from cardiac arrest accounts for about half of all heart disease deaths in the United States.
In SCA, the heart stops working because of a malfunction in the electrical system that controls the heartbeat. This is different than a heart attack; in a heart attack, a clogged or narrowed artery blocks the flow of blood to the heart (think of it as a plumbing problem, rather than an electrical problem). The reduced blood flow during a heart attack damages the heart muscle, but doesn't necessarily stop the heart or result in death. The three most important risk factors for SCA are:
- Previous heart attack: 75% of the people who suffer SCA show signs of a previous heart attack.
- Coronary artery disease: 80% of SCA victims have evidence of coronary artery disease, a condition in which the arteries that supply blood to the heart are narrowed or blocked with cholesterol deposits.
- Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (EF): The ejection fraction is a measurement of how much blood is pumped by the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart, with each heart beat. A healthy left ventricle pumps 55% or more of its blood with each beat. People at highest risk for SCD have ejection fractions of less than 35%.
There are a number of things people can do to prevent the risk of SCA. First, living a "heart healthy" life can help reduce the chances of dying of SCA or other heart conditions. This includes exercising regularly, eating healthy foods, maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding smoking. It is also important to treat and monitor diseases and conditions that can contribute to heart problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. For some patients, preventing SCA requires controlling or stopping the abnormal heart rhythms that may trigger ventricular fibrillation through the use of medications, implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) or catheter ablation procedures.
If you would like more information on SCA, contact your physician, or call the John Muir Cardiac Rhythm Center at (925) 947-3332.
(Posted October 13, 2008)