Blood pressure refers to blood flow which pushes from heart and circulates overall the body. At the time of heart attack, blood circulation in some areas of heart blocks which can drop down the pressure. Many people don’t experience the change in blood pressure at all.
While other experience increase in the blood pressure, change in the blood pressure during a heart attack is really unpredictable. Therefore, doctor never considers it as sign of heart attack. Read on this blog to what kind of changes can happen to blood pressure when there is a heart attack.
Decrease and increase in blood pressure during heart attack
Measurement of blood pressure carries out by measuring the blood flowing pressure via arteries which exerts on its walls. At the time of heart attack, the flowing of blood to the heart muscle restricts and blood clot will block the artery. With lack of blood supply, the affected part of heart will not receive the oxygen which it needs for proper functioning.
Decrease
At times, blood pressure drops down at the time of heart attack. Such condition refers to as hypotension. It mainly happens because of the following aspects:
Heart pumps out less blood due to damaged tissue- At the time of heart attack, blood circulation to heart cuts off completely. As a result, the tissues die which lowers the blood amount that heart will pump for rest of the body.
Response to pain- Heart attack leads to a pain which triggers vasovagal response in many people. It refers to reaction of nervous system for certain conditions like pain or extreme stress. As a result, blood pressure can go down which is why the patients can faint.
PNS goes overdrive- PNS (parasympathetic nervous system) controls the resting state of the body. That’s why the blood pressure drops down drastically. Similarly heart attack can trigger PNS which will lower down the blood pressure consecutively.
Increase
Lower blood pressure is not only heart attack indicator as everyone will definitely not experience a drop down in blood pressure level at the time of heart attack. Many people may not experience any significant fluctuation in the level of blood pressure at all while getting heart attack.
On the other hand, many experience high blood pressure (hypertension) at the time of heart attack. It can happen because of surge in adrenaline hormone which heightens up at the time of stressful situations such as heart attack.
Also SNS (sympathetic nervous system) can go overdrive due to heart attack which results in high blood pressure. SNS is solely responsible for ‘flight or fight’ reactions.
Does a fluctuation in blood pressure a warning sign for heart attack?
Remember, blood pressure can’t be the correct predictor for the heart attack. However, heart attack does fluctuate in the pressure but it never means that the change in the level is because of heart attack. Instead, look for potential symptoms of heart attack if you want to prevent it. Sometimes, it causes several, few or no symptoms too.
Amongst many, chest pain is usual sign. Other potential signs are:
- Breathing shortness
- Fainting or dizziness
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Upper back, neck and jaw pain
- Abdominal pain
- Cold sweats
- Pain in arm
- Severe to mild squeezing sensation in chest
All of these symptoms will let the doctor to predict heart attack better over the level of blood pressure.
Go for daily check up
Regular health check up is essential to determine the overall risk of heart attack. Some risk factors of heart attack are:
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Smoking
- Medical history with heart attack
- Hypertension
- Age
- Family history
- Diabetes
- Obesity
As it is really unprecedented, it is better to consult with the doctor and know whether you need to perform a blood test. This will enable you to lessen the chance of getting one.
From this blog, it is clear that blood pressure is somewhat linked to heart attack. However, one cannot consider it as a warning sign to get a heart attack. If you want to ensure about your heart’s health then book a doctor for regular heart check up.
They will determine if there is any possible chance of getting heart attack or not. Accordingly, you will get the instruction to improve your heart health keeping the probability at minimum.
