Treating a Heart Attack

If an electrocardiogram (EKG) shows that you are having a heart attack, several medications can be used to help your heart. Here is a description of some common drugs to treat you during a heart attack.

Nitroglycerin

Nitroglycerin helps open up the vessels that supply blood to the heart. This medication, often administered under the tongue, works quickly to reduce or relieve chest pain. Nitroglycerin also can be given intravenously (through the veins) so that it works quicker.

A person who uses nitroglycerin tablets at home is usually told to take a tablet as soon as there is chest pain. The pills can be repeated at five-minute intervals for a total of three tablets. If chest pain is still present after taking these doses of nitroglycerin, you should call 911. Don't drive yourself to the hospital.

Thrombolytic agents

These are the newest medications available to treat a heart attack. Thrombolytics, or "clot busters" as they are often called, are given intravenously to dissolve the blood clot that is causing the heart attack. When given during the first hours of a heart attack, thrombolytics can save heart muscle that would otherwise be destroyed during a heart attack. This is one reason why you should get immediately. Your doctor will determine if you can get this treatment, since some medical conditions may prevent you from receiving thrombolytic agents. Emergency angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting procedures are often carried out instead of using thrombolytic agents.

Anticoagulants

If you have chest pain that could signify the onset of a heart attack, you may be told to chew an aspirin before being brought to the hospital. If you are not having a heart attack, the aspirin will not harm you. If you are having a heart attack, the aspirin will "thin" your blood and possibly prevent further clotting. Another medication called heparin is often given intravenously for a few days after a heart attack. Heparin also "thins" your blood and reduces the risk of more clotting. "Thinning" your blood actually refers to reducing its tendency to clot.

Beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers

These medications are often given to help reduce the heart's requirements for oxygen after a heart attack. They can be administered by mouth or intravenously. Your doctor may have you continue beta-blockers after leaving the hospital.

Anti-arrhythmic agents

Since the heart is irritable after a heart attack, anti-arrhythmic drugs to prevent life-threatening, abnormal heart rhythms are sometimes used.