Cardiac arrest is different from a heart attack.
JAKARTA — Sudden cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is responsible for around six million deaths per year in the world. According to studies, the risk of death from SCA is higher in women than men.
SCA occurs when a heart rhythm disturbance or arrhythmia causes the heart’s electrical system to stop working as it should. This condition causes the heart to stop beating suddenly.
Some people may think of SCA and heart attack as the same condition. In fact, SCA and heart attack are two different conditions.
A heart attack occurs when a coronary artery is blocked so that blood cannot reach the heart. However, a heart attack can trigger SCA.
A study published in European Heart Journal found that gender appeared to influence the survival chances of patients who experience cardiac arrest outside the hospital (out of hospital cardiac arrest, OHCA). This can happen for several reasons.
According to studies, one of the triggers is that women who experience OHCA tend to get resuscitation help from those around them less often than men who experience OHCA. This occurs even when women with OHCA show obvious symptoms.
As is well known, one of the actions that needs to be taken in resuscitating people who have had a cardiac arrest is to provide chest compressions. This compression should force the chest area down two inches.
This is what later becomes a concern for some ordinary people in providing resuscitation assistance to women. The concern arises because women tend to have smaller chest sizes than men.
“Some untrained people may be wary of doing deeper compressions on women,” explains noninvasive cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, United States, Alexandra Lajoie, as reported by Medical News TodayThursday (12/1/2023).
In addition, the research team also found that women with OHCA who received resuscitation assistance had a lower chance of survival than men. This may be because women tend to get less medical care for their heart.
Although cardiac arrest occurs suddenly, the underlying problem is present much earlier. However, when compared to men, women tend to delay going to the doctor more often if they experience symptoms related to heart problems.
“Therefore, (women) are more likely to experience a severe myocardial infarction (heart attack) which triggers cardiac arrest,” explained Dr. Lajoie.
Until now, Dr. Lajoie said many people still believe in the myth that heart disease and cardiac arrest are more common in men. This makes many women who experience symptoms of heart disease do not immediately seek medical help.
“The majority of cardiac arrests can be avoided if the underlying problem is treated quickly before cardiac arrest occurs,” said Dr. Lajoie.
Therefore, Dr. Lajoie appealed to everyone, both men and women, to be aware of various symptoms related to heart health problems. Some of them are pain in the chest area, feeling like you are going to pass out, palpitations, fainting, or shortness of breath.
Source: Republic
