THE RISK FACTORS OF THE INFARCTION

THE RISK FACTORS OF THE INFARCTION
The risk factors for heart attack are general and have a rather uniform value in the different districts in which the heart attack can occur. There are modifiable factors, on which it is possible to intervene by implementing all the prevention strategies known today, and non-modifiable factors, on which it is not possible to act but which must be monitored.

The modifiable factors are:
Physical Activity: physical exercise keeps the metabolism more active, reduces the levels of lipids in the blood and therefore the possibility that these settle at the arterial level; experts advise to carry out at least 20-30 minutes of physical activity per day, which can also consist simply of a long walk, provided that it is performed with a relaxed and sustained step.

smoking: Smoking raises cardiovascular risk and must therefore be avoided, all the more so in the presence of other risk factors.
Alcohol: alcohol abuse leads to the introduction into the body of empty calories, not accompanied by the supply of nutrients.

Drug use: The use of drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines increases the risk of heart attack and reduces the average age at which this occurs.

Nutrition: The diet must be as low as possible in saturated fats, responsible for the increase in plasma lipid levels and the deposition of atheromatous plaques on the artery wall. This means that the consumption of meat, butter and dairy products must be limited.

Blood Pressure: hypertension subjects the arterial wall to non-physiological stresses, which can damage it. This increases the risk of arterial lesions and therefore the probability of plaque deposition and aneurysm formation. Furthermore, by acting on the heart with loads greater than those for which it was sized, the risk of congestive heart failure increases. 40-90% of people affected by stroke suffered from hypertension at the time of the event.

Diabetes: the presence of excess sugars in the blood damages the arteries and creates the metabolic conditions for raising cholesterol and triglyceride levels, responsible for the formation of atheromatous plaques.

Overweight: overweight and obesity increase cardiovascular risk; in particular, abdominal fat is harmful, which acts like a real organ secreting hormones that alter the metabolism.

vasculitis: These are autoimmune diseases that involve inflammation of the blood vessels and that can predispose to the deposition of atheromatous plaques.

The non-modifiable factors are:

Age: the risk of heart attack increases with age; for this reason it is recommended, at a more mature age, to keep yourself under control and intensify prevention.

Gender: while at a young and mature age, heart attack and atherosclerosis are more common in men, after menopause the loss by women of the protective action of estrogen levels the sexes in risk quantification.
Familiarity: the presence of a history in the family increases the risk of being subject to a heart attack.
Acute myocardial infarction (more commonly defined as a heart attack) is a very serious cardiovascular event which involves the necrosis of a portion of the myocardium dependent on the extent of the ischemia that generated it.

In Italy, about 120,000 heart attacks occur every year, with a mortality of around 11%, but in continuous and decisive improvement. Myocardial infarction is a very rapid onset event, in which the flow of blood directed to a part of the heart muscle is blocked by the obstruction of one or more coronary arteries. If blood flow is not restored in a short time, ischemia can extend, leading to massive necrosis of the myocardial tissue and the consequent fibrosis. It is precisely the deposition of scar tissue that determines some of the worst consequences of myocardial infarction.

THE CAUSES OF MYOCARDIC INFARCTION
The cause of myocardial infarction is the interruption or dramatic reduction of blood supply to the heart. The conditions that can lead to the establishment of this framework are:

Atherosclerosis: The deposition of aromatherapist plaques due to hyperglycemia (circulating lipid levels higher than normal) on the internal wall of the coronary arteries, reduces the lumen and obstructs the blood flow causing: risk of ischemia downstream, swirling blood in the artery (the alteration of the hydrodynamic picture causes damage to the arterial wall and an increased risk of aneurysm formation) and the danger of detachment of fragments of the plaque itself (which can generate thrombi capable of totally or partially occluding the lumen of a coronary)
spasm of the coronary arteries: it is a constriction reaction of the arterial diameter which takes over due to various factors, including the use of some drugs (such as cocaine) and which causes non-thrombotic heart attack.

Coronary Malformation: In rare cases the narrowing of the lumen of a coronary artery due to a congenital malformation can lead to an alteration of the blood flow and lead to the formation of a thrombus, responsible for the heart attack.

Coronary Dissection: It is a type of congenital malformation or it acquires a coronary artery which consists in the detachment between the sheets that make up the wall, in such a way as to bring the innermost one to create the conditions for partial occlusion and for thrombus formation.

Suborbital Syndrome: It is a type of myocardial infarction that mainly affects women and that is generated by strong emotional stress, without narrowing of the coronary lumen. The heart observed on the echo-cardiogram tends to take the shape of the baskets used by Japanese fishermen.