Watching House again and a couple of times people have died (temporarily) when their hearts stop. But before they go they all mention pain. This reminded me of when people have heart attacks there’s pain in the chest and left arm.
But why would it hurt if the heart stops beating? Is it the nerves, muscles, whatever dying due to the lack of oxygen and nutrients or is it the brain screaming at itself that the heart has stopped and it’s in full panic mode?
In: Biology
two things to note here.
1. the heart does not stop beating during a heart attack, if the heart ever truly stops you aren’t temporarily dead, you are permanently dead. Plus the heart not beating isn’t actually the hart attack, its a cardiac arrest caused by the heart attack
2. Cardiac arrests are cause by the hearts rhythm going wrong in some way, the muscles are still contracting but not in the correct way to properly pump blood, Now usually in typical heart attacks this is caused by a blockage in one of the blood vessels that supplies the heart muscles themselves. The heart then doesn’t get enough oxygen and eventually the cells start to die, the hart can no longer move blood around effectively causing the cardiac arrest.
The pain people feel during the heart attack is essentially cramp, like all muscles when short on oxygen the body will start to rely on anaerobic respiration to generate energy and produce a buildup of lactic acid. The heart is no different in that regard
Latest Answers