Heart Attacks Essay -- Health Medical Research Papers

Heart AttacksHeart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States.Everyday approximately 1,500 people die from watch attacks. Thousands moresuffer crippling effects of some form, and remain disabled for the rest of theirlives. A simple definition of a heart attack is a sudden failure of the heartresulting from an occlusion or obstruction of a coronary artery. Basically,this means the heart is no longer receiving the blood supply it inescapably tofunction properly. A person having a heart attack experiences severe pain inthe chest extending to the left shoulder and arm. Heart attacks occur for avariety of reasons. Diet, genetics, obesity, and lack of exercise are allcontributors to heart attacks. Smoking and stress are the most widespreadcauses however, affecting 2.5 million people both year. Therefore, smoking andstress are two major causes of heart attacks.Smoking causes heart attacks. The tobacco in cigarettes and cigars containa chemical called nicotine. When inhal ed into the lungs, nicotine causes therelease of hormones in the body. These hormones raise the blood pressure.Consequently, a persons heart rate increases 15 to 25 beats per minute.Nicotine also causes the blood vessels to contract. People who smoke have aharder condemnation keeping their hands and feet warm because their blood does notcirculate as well as it does in non-smokers. When the heart rate increases andthe blood vessels remain squeeze for an extended p...