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Source: ONE News -
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A coroner in Los Angeles has confirmed that pop music legend
Michael Jackson died after arriving at a hospital in full cardiac
arrest.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating.
A cardiac arrest can occur suddenly and without warning.
Here are some facts about cardiac arrest:
What is cardiac arrest?
Cardiac arrest is an abrupt loss of heart function. Most cardiac
arrests that lead to death are caused by abnormal heart rhythms. It
can occur when the heart beats too quickly, as in ventricular
tachycardia, or when the heartbeat becomes chaotic, as in
ventricular fibrillation, or when both occur together.
Cardiac arrest is not a heart attack, which is caused by blockages
in blood vessels leading to the heart. People having heart attacks
often have crushing chest pain, and far better survival
rates.
What causes cardiac arrest?
Drugs, including cocaine and certain amphetamines, can cause
cardiac arrest. But the most common underlying reason for cardiac
arrest is heart disease. It also has many other causes, including
electrocution, drowning, choking and trauma.
Smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and stress
can increase the risks.
Cardiac arrest can also occur without any known cause.
Can the heart be restarted?
If a bystander witnesses a cardiac arrest, starts cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) and calls emergency medical workers to shock
the heart with a defibrillator, people can survive a cardiac
arrest.
Each minute without CPR and defibrillation cuts chances of survival
by seven to 10%, and few resuscitation attempts succeed after 10
minutes.
In the United States, more than 95% of people who suffer cardiac
arrest die before reaching a hospital.
Automated external defibrillators, often found in airports and
other public places, vastly improve the chances of survival.
