Emergency Urgent Care: When to Go to an ER: Cardiology
Cardiology is the branch of medicine dealing with diseases and abnormalities of the heart and as such cardiology in the ER involves the emergency urgent care of these diseases and abnormalities. The heart is not the biggest organ in the body, but it is arguably one of the body’s most important one as it plays a key role in circulation, therefore ensuring oxygen and nutrients reach all the areas of your body. This means that any issues with the heart are likely to lead to serious problems and even death. This is why health experts, including those over at the highly rated frontlineer.com, always insist that that you put the health of your heart at the top of your list. Ensuring that your heart is healthy by living a healthy lifestyle which involves maintaining a healthy diet, staying away from foods high in fats and cholesterol, exercising regularly as well as quitting some of the damaging lifestyle choices such as smoking is key in ensuring that you avoid most of the cardiac issues. It is also worth noting that there are some cardiac issues that are emergencies requiring an immediate visit to an ER. It is important to know these conditions as well as their symptoms so that you can be able to seek treatment for them, and this article will look to help with that by highlighting the conditions and symptoms that need you to go to an ER as far as cardiology is concerned.
Obviously, the most common cardiac emergency is a heart attack which occurs when your heart is not getting adequate blood supply, mostly due to a block in an artery. This leads to damage of the heart muscles as it deprives the heart cells of important nutrients and oxygen. A heart attack is a medical emergency requiring one to go to an ER, like the excellent frontlineer.com, as soon as possible as it is a life-threatening condition; one which is responsible for a significant number of fatalities and ER visits in the US every year. It is important to know the signs of a heart attack so that you can seek emergency care since the more time that passes without you getting treatment, the more damage your heart muscles incur, increasing the chances of suffering unwanted outcomes. These signs of a heart attack include pain, pressure, fullness or squeezing in the center or left side of the chest, pain radiating towards the jaw, neck, shoulder, arm or the back, breathing difficulties and shortness of breath, sweating, nausea and vomiting, an irregular heart beat and even a loss of consciousness. If you notice any of these signs, then you should call 911 as soon as possible so that you can be taken to an ER for treatment. Remember to never drive yourself to an ER when you are experiencing a heart attack.
Another cardiac emergency that requires you to head over to an ER as soon as possible is sudden cardiac arrest, which is the abrupt loss of heart function. When the heart stops beating, breathing stops soon after, followed by a loss of consciousness hence sudden cardiac arrest is a very serious and life-threatening condition requiring an immediate visit to an ER such as the highly rated frontlineer.com. Sudden cardiac arrest is also referred to as sudden cardiac death, although it is not the same thing as actual death. In sudden cardiac death, only the heart ceases to function while in actual death, the brain also dies and therefore sudden cardiac arrest is potentially reversible when one seeks immediate treatment. Unlike a heart attack which is caused by blocked blood flow to the heart, sudden cardiac arrest is usually caused by cardiac electrical system failure, although a heart attack can still trigger events that lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Symptoms for sudden cardiac arrest are obvious since it leads to sudden loss of heart function and they include sudden loss of consciousness and collapse, no breathing, no pulse and unresponsiveness to voice, sounds and even pain. If you notice any of these signs, call 911 as soon as possible and have the affected person taken to an ER for treatment.
Another cardiac emergency requiring a visit to an ER is known as heart failure, or congestive heart failure. It is caused by the weakening or the damaging of heart muscles, to such an extent that it becomes unable to pump the volume of the blood required to the various parts of the body. While heart failure can be managed through making lifestyle changes and taking you medication, you should still keep an eye out for signs that you need to go to an ER for your condition. These signs include chest pain that is unexpected, severe, is accompanied with shortness of breath, sweating, weakness or nausea and which is new and you haven’t experienced it before, sudden weakness or paralysis in your arms or legs, a sudden severe and unexplained headache, loss of consciousness and a fast heart rate. If you notice any of these signs, you should head over to an ER, such as the highly rated frontlineer.com, as soon as possible.
The above are just some of the cardiac emergencies out there, all of which require one to go to an ER such as the highly regarded frontlineer.com, where you can also head over for more information on this and other related topics.
