Eli5: what is the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest?
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Your heart is a pump that pushes blood to the rest of your body. Blood supplies nutrients – oxygen, glucose, and takes away waste products – CO2, lactate. The heart has its own electrical supply – which controls how fast and hard the heart pumps. The heart (and its electrical supply) need blood (sugar, oxygen) to work.
A heart attack, or myocardial infarction [heart-muscle death], occurs when the heart does not get blood supply, and part of it dies. This often happens because a clot (a block in the artery) gets sent to a small blood vessel that supplies the heart and blood cannot get through to the muscle. A heart attack can sometimes immidatly kill a person because the heart can no longer beat, but people can survive a heart attack if the size of the muscle loss is not great, there are other sources of blood supply, or they get interventions early.
In contrast, cardiac arrest occurs when the heart does not generate electrical activity necessary to beat. It can occur because there is no electrical activity, or the electrical activity causes the heart to beat in a way that’s so disorganized and fast that blood cannot flow. This can occur because of a heart attack, electrolyte abnormalities, or other reasons.
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