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Written By: Admin | Updated : September 12, 2013 10:26 AM IST
A scientist has claimed that there's evidence to suggest people are likelier to suffer from a heart attack between 6 to 10 AM. The reason for this is the link between body's internal clock and cardiac arrest. Mukesh Jain, M.D., said that it pinpoints a previously unrecognised factor in the electrical storm that makes the heart's main pumping chambers suddenly begin to beat erratically in a way that stops the flow of blood to the brain and body.
Termed ventricular fibrillation, the condition causes sudden cardiac death (SCD), in which the victim instantly becomes unconscious and dies unless CPR or a defibrillator is available to shock the heart back into its steady beat. The peak risk hours range from 6 am to 10 am, with a smaller peak in the late afternoon. Scientists long suspected a link between SCD and the 24-hour body clock, located in the brain. It governs 24-hour cycles of sleep and wakefulness called circadian rhythms that coordinate a range of body functions with the outside environment.
Jain's group discovered a protein called KLF15 that helps regulate the heart's electrical activity, and occurs in the body in levels that change like clockwork throughout the day. KLF15 helps form channels that allow substances to enter and exit heart cells in ways critical to maintaining a normal, steady heartbeat.
They first discovered that patients with heart failure have lower levels of KLF15. Then, they established in laboratory mice that KLF15 is the molecular link between SCD and the circadian rhythm. And mice with low levels of the protein have the same heart problems as people with SCD.
Dr Vijay Surase tells us about some classic symptoms of a heart attack that we should watch out for:
Common signs of a heart attack:
Some women and people with diabetes do not have classic symptoms. Women usually have no severe chest pain, but a general weakness and discomfort. This leads to women ignoring the problem until late. Most diabetics develop atypical symptoms like profuse sweating or loss of consciousness during a heart attack which may be misinterpreted as symptoms of low sugar in the body. Sometimes heart attack is diagnosed during investigations like ECG or echocardiography even though you may not have had any history of chest pain. Such silent heart problems are a major challenge because they progress rapidly towards heart failure.
Other signs and symptoms of a heart attack include:
Women too have to be on the watch out because they don't experience the 'classic' symptoms of a heart attack. Some common symptoms in women are:
With inputs from agencies
