In the wake of the shocking news that Scottish politician Alex Salmond passed away suspectedly due to a cardiac arrest, a TV doctor has shared vital ‘red flags’ for heart issues. A heart attack was confirmed as Mr Salmond’s cause of death in a post-mortem examination, revealed the Alba Party.
Mr Salmond served as Scotland’s first minister from 2007 to 2014 and met his untimely death in North Macedonia on Saturday at 69. He had been attending and speaking at a forum in Ohrid before he collapsed during a lunch event.
Dr Mark Porter, known for his medical insights on shows like BBC Breakfast, This Morning, and Good Morning Britain, penned an article for The Times following the tragic event. Dr Porter pointed out that each day, 300 individuals are admitted to NHS hospitals with heart attacks.
He urged the public to dial ‘999’ if experiencing any alarming symptoms such as chest pain, sweating, nausea, or breathlessness.
“There are a number of reasons that people go into cardiac arrest, but a heart attack is the most common cause in cases that occur outside hospital,” Dr Porter explained, indicating a major heart attack was probably behind Mr Salmond’s demise.
Dr Porter remarked: “Like many doctors, I was struck by the fact that fellow delegates said he was complaining of a sore leg that day, leg pain being one symptom of a blood clot (see below) which can sometimes break off and travel through the heart into the lungs, triggering a cardiac arrest. This is comparatively unusual.”
He clarified that a heart attack occurs when one of the coronary arteries, which run over the surface of the heart, becomes blocked. This is typically caused by a piece of plaque in the lining of the vessel breaking off or bursting.
This plaque is formed by the hardening of the arteries, a process influenced by factors such as age, genetics, lifestyle and disease, which affects most people to some extent. The arrest is triggered by a disruption in blood flow to the heart.
Dr Porter explained: “Heart muscle can’t survive long without its blood supply, and one of the results of this starvation is that electrical activity becomes disrupted, which in turn can trigger an arrest. The most dangerous type of heart attack is a blockage in the left anterior descending coronary artery, which supplies about half of the blood needed by the heart muscle. Known as the widowmaker – even though it affects women too – it is the type of heart attack most likely to cause sudden death.”
Survival rates if this happens away from a hospital are just eight per cent – and if someone is a patient even then it’s 20 per cent. Dr Porter advised: “Not everyone gets warning symptoms like chest pain (which often radiates to the neck or left arm), sweating, nausea and/or breathlessness, but if you do, don’t hesitate, and dial 999. The sooner you are in the care of experts equipped with all the necessary resuscitation equipment the better. And the sooner the blockage is relieved the less the long-term damage to your heart.”
Heart attacks are more prevalent in older individuals with established risk factors such as smoking, obesity, a family history of heart disease, type 1 and 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. You can gauge your likelihood of experiencing a heart attack (and stroke) using a risk calculator like qrisk.org, and see how mitigating factors – such as quitting smoking or taking a statin – could be beneficial.
Risk factors encompass having had a heart attack before, a strong family history, being over 60, being overweight, smoking, recent surgery/trauma, immobility (including on long-haul flights lasting more than four hours), pregnancy and taking certain types of HRT and contraception. Additionally, any serious underlying illness, including cancer, that triggers inflammation, clotting abnormalities and/or immobilises you in bed, at home or in hospital.