Heart Attack and Angioplasty: What Every Patient Should Know

Recognising a Heart Attack

The classic signs: heavy, squeezing or crushing chest pain or pressure, often spreading to the left arm, jaw, neck or back; breathlessness; cold sweat; nausea. Symptoms can be subtler in women, older people and those with diabetes. Treat any suspicious chest discomfort as a possible heart attack — the cost of a false alarm is small, the cost of waiting is not.

What to Do Immediately

Call emergency services or get to a hospital with a 24×7 cathlab immediately. Do not drive yourself. Chewing an aspirin can help if advised, but the priority is speed. At Health1, the emergency line is 90331 14444, and the Shilaj cathlab operates around the clock for exactly this situation.

How Emergency Angioplasty Works

A thin catheter is passed from the wrist or groin to the blocked coronary artery. A balloon opens the blockage, and a stent — a tiny mesh tube — is usually placed to keep the artery open. The entire procedure restores blood flow without open surgery, and "door-to-balloon time" is the critical measure: the faster the artery is opened, the more heart muscle survives.

Who Is at Risk — and What You Can Change

The major risk factors for a heart attack are well known: smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, and family history. Some — like family history — you cannot change, but most you can. Controlling blood pressure and diabetes, stopping smoking, staying active and managing cholesterol dramatically lower risk. A heart attack is often the first visible sign of years of silent artery disease, which is why prevention and periodic check-ups matter even when you feel well.

Why a 24×7 Cathlab Changes Outcomes

The single biggest factor in surviving a heart attack well is how quickly the blocked artery is reopened. A hospital where the catheterisation lab runs only in office hours cannot offer that at 2 a.m. A 24×7 cathlab, with an interventional cardiology team on call around the clock, means a patient arriving at any hour moves straight to definitive treatment. This is why knowing in advance which nearby hospital offers round-the-clock cardiac intervention can quite literally be lifesaving.

Angioplasty vs Bypass Surgery

Not every blockage is treated by angioplasty. Some patients — particularly those with multiple complex blockages or diabetes — may do better with bypass surgery. The choice is made by the heart team based on the pattern of disease. Our satellite guide on angioplasty vs bypass explains this in detail.

Recovery and Preventing the Next One

After angioplasty, most patients are mobile within a day or two. The real work is preventing recurrence: medication adherence, blood pressure and diabetes control, cholesterol management, stopping smoking, and cardiac rehabilitation. A stent fixes one blockage; lifestyle and medication protect the rest of the arteries.

Common Questions