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A cold can trigger a heart attack!
Apr. 6th, 2012 06:23 pmLast Sunday morning, Mark, aged 28 and fit as a fiddle, had two heart attacks one after the other. I'm only just able to write about it because it was a very scary few days.
It turns out these were not the usual type involving narrowed coronary arteries, which tend to afflict the elderly or unfit. They were due to a cold virus, yes a cold virus! Normally, the virus descends into the lungs and gives a bronchial infection but it can enter the blood and make its way round to the heart. The heart swells due to infection, then cannot beat properly inside the pericardium, hence chest pains and feelings of being very unwell.
Mark had had a head cold and sore throat for a few days. He woke on Sunday, feeling unwell with chest pains. Jenn was out with a friend but their mutual friend, Joannah, was there. He went back to bed and she googled the symptoms. Just as she was deciding to phone for an ambulance, he got up and told her he was going to hospital. Very unlike Mark to make a fuss but he had realised it was serious.
Luckily, the hospital is one minute's walk away so he and Jo walked there. As they arrived, he had his first heart attack. He was rushed straight through the emergency departrment to the hospital proper and as he lay down, he had the second heart attack. He was given morphine, which had no effect on the pain, and then hooked up to machines.
Jo phoned Jenn on her mobile. Apparently, Jenn threw her bags to her friend and ran to the hospital and got there in about ten minutes. She and Jo stayed with Mark for over twelve hours that day. He began to feel a little better so was able to shave his own chest and groin for an angiogram. That confirmed his heart was healthy, though scarred by the heart attacks. The infection is viral so cannot be treated. He just has to wait for the infection to subside.
He stayed in hospital for another two days, with Jenn and Jo there each day for at least seven hours, then he was released with paracetamol for general pain and angina tablets for more specific heart pain when needed. He's been booked in for an MRI in six weeks to have a closer cardiac inspection.
Since then, he has been sleeping a lot, suffering from exhaustion. Jenn has been given until next Monday off work. Mark's boss and colleagues have visited him and told him not to return until he feels ready. Jenn told us late Sunday and we volunteered to drive there but she said to wait. As he's so tired, we'll wait until he feels brighter.
Luckily, there will be no long-lasting effects and he should make a total recovery, thank goodness. It turns out if they had waited for an ambulance, he would have been taken to Leeds Hospital, which has a specialist cardiac team but is half an hour away! We're so relieved he was not on his own when it happened and that he was treated quickly and efficiently in York. What was serious did not become critical.
If you have a cold or sore throat, then experience chest pain, don't wait! Get to hospital.
It turns out these were not the usual type involving narrowed coronary arteries, which tend to afflict the elderly or unfit. They were due to a cold virus, yes a cold virus! Normally, the virus descends into the lungs and gives a bronchial infection but it can enter the blood and make its way round to the heart. The heart swells due to infection, then cannot beat properly inside the pericardium, hence chest pains and feelings of being very unwell.
Mark had had a head cold and sore throat for a few days. He woke on Sunday, feeling unwell with chest pains. Jenn was out with a friend but their mutual friend, Joannah, was there. He went back to bed and she googled the symptoms. Just as she was deciding to phone for an ambulance, he got up and told her he was going to hospital. Very unlike Mark to make a fuss but he had realised it was serious.
Luckily, the hospital is one minute's walk away so he and Jo walked there. As they arrived, he had his first heart attack. He was rushed straight through the emergency departrment to the hospital proper and as he lay down, he had the second heart attack. He was given morphine, which had no effect on the pain, and then hooked up to machines.
Jo phoned Jenn on her mobile. Apparently, Jenn threw her bags to her friend and ran to the hospital and got there in about ten minutes. She and Jo stayed with Mark for over twelve hours that day. He began to feel a little better so was able to shave his own chest and groin for an angiogram. That confirmed his heart was healthy, though scarred by the heart attacks. The infection is viral so cannot be treated. He just has to wait for the infection to subside.
He stayed in hospital for another two days, with Jenn and Jo there each day for at least seven hours, then he was released with paracetamol for general pain and angina tablets for more specific heart pain when needed. He's been booked in for an MRI in six weeks to have a closer cardiac inspection.
Since then, he has been sleeping a lot, suffering from exhaustion. Jenn has been given until next Monday off work. Mark's boss and colleagues have visited him and told him not to return until he feels ready. Jenn told us late Sunday and we volunteered to drive there but she said to wait. As he's so tired, we'll wait until he feels brighter.
Luckily, there will be no long-lasting effects and he should make a total recovery, thank goodness. It turns out if they had waited for an ambulance, he would have been taken to Leeds Hospital, which has a specialist cardiac team but is half an hour away! We're so relieved he was not on his own when it happened and that he was treated quickly and efficiently in York. What was serious did not become critical.
If you have a cold or sore throat, then experience chest pain, don't wait! Get to hospital.
