EPHT – Heart Attack

What is a Heart Attack?

Coronary heart disease can cause a heart attack, also known as a myocardial infarction. For some people, the first sign of coronary heart disease is a heart attack. A heart attack happens when the heart isn't getting enough blood. If the heart's blood supply is reduced or blocked, heart muscle cells might not get enough oxygen. The longer it takes to get treatment to restore blood flow, the more the heart is damaged. This damage can cause irregular heart rhythms or the heart to suddenly stop beating, which can lead to death.

Risk factors for heart attack include:

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes or high blood sugar 
• Obesity or being overweight
• Family history of heart disease 
• Tobacco use
• Breathing air pollution over time
   

It is important to get to the hospital fast if you suspect a heart attack. The most common signs of heart attack are:

• Chest pain in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. It can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Pain in other parts of the body, like one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, shoulder or stomach.
• Shortness of breath, which may happen with or before chest pain.
• Other signs, like breaking out in a cold sweat, feeling sick to your stomach, throwing up, feeling weak, or feeling lightheaded.

For more information on heart disease, visit Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention.

Heart Disease Data

The Missouri EPHT Program provides data on emergency department and hospital visits for myocardial infarction, or heart attack.  You can search the data by age, sex, race, and ethnicity.

• Missouri EPHT - Acute Myocardial Infarction Query

  Search this query to find:

  Annual numbers of emergency department visits and hospitalizations

  Annual crude rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations, per 10,000 residents

  Annual age-adjusted rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations, per 10,000 residents
   

Other Data Sources

Other data sources share additional data on heart disease and stroke, including data on the number of people diagnosed and living with heart disease.

• Missouri Heart Data Profile
• Missouri Stroke Data Profile
• Missouri Information for Community Assessment (MICA) - Chronic Disease Query

• CDC - National EPHT Data Explorer

   

Using the Data

Heart disease data can help you:

• See if some communities or populations are at higher risk of heart disease
• See if heart disease is going up or down over time
• Direct resources on heart attack prevention 
• See progress towards lowering heart disease risks
   

Additional Resources

• CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking – Heart Disease and Stroke