How is cardiac arrest different from a heart attack?
Each year approximately one million Americans experience a heart attack, making it the number-one cause of unexpected or sudden death among otherwise healthy adults. While many people use the two terms interchangeably, cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart actually stops beating and pumping blood, usually due to a malfunction in the heart’s electrical system (ventricular fibrillation). The term “massive heart attack” is also mistakenly used to describe cardiac arrest, but they are not the same thing. A heart attack may lead to cardiac arrest, but these are separate events.
A. Each year approximately one million Americans experience a heart attack, making it the number-one cause of unexpected or sudden death among otherwise healthy adults. While many people use the two terms interchangeably, cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart actually stops beating and pumping blood, usually due to a malfunction in the heart’s electrical system (ventricular fibrillation). The term “massive heart attack” is also mistakenly used to describe cardiac arrest, but they are not the same thing. A heart attack may lead to cardiac arrest, but these are separate events.
