Diagnosis
Diagnosis involves medical staff asking about your symptoms and measuring your blood pressure, pulse, and temperature. They will also listen to your heart and lung sounds with a stethoscope and ask about your family history of heart disease. Tests that will help to confirm a heart attack include:
• Electrocardiogram (EGC), which monitors the electrical activity of the heart to reveal injured heart muscle
• Blood tests, to test for the presence of specific proteins that leak into the blood if the heart muscle has been damaged
• Chest x-ray, to check the size of the heart and the coronary arteries
• Echocardiogram, uses sound waves to produce moving images of the heart that reveal abnormalities with the heart
• Coronary angiogram, an x-ray imaging technique to show if the coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked
• Exercise stress test, involves conducting an ECG during exercise since problems with the heart are more likely to be revealed when the heart is working harder
• Cardiac computerised tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), involves the use of high-tech machines to reveal problems with the heart and coronary arteries by taking a series detailed images of the heart.
Treatment
Depending on the severity of the heart attack and the amount of damage to the heart, the use of medications, a surgical procedure, or both may be required for treatment. The main aim of treatment is to restore (and help to maintain) the flow of blood to the heart.

Medications given to treat a heart attack and reduce cardiovascular risk include:
• Thrombolytics (‘clot-busting’ drugs), such as alteplase, to dissolve the clot that is blocking blood flow to the heart
• Aspirin or ‘super aspirins’ such as clopidogrel, or other blood thinning medicines such as heparin, to help prevent new clots from forming
• Pain relievers, such as morphine, to reduce discomfort
• Nitroglycerin to treat chest pain (angina) by temporarily opening arterial blood vessels and increasing blood flow to and from the heart
• Beta blockers, such as carvedilol, which relax the heart by slowing heart beat and reducing the force of the heart’s contractions (beats)
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, such as captopril, which lower blood pressure and reduce stress on the heart
• Cholesterol-lowering drugs, called statins, to lower levels of unwanted cholesterol in the blood.
In addition to medications, one of the following surgical procedures may be used to restore blood flow to the heart:
• Coronary angioplasty and stenting: opens blocked or narrowed coronary arteries
• Coronary artery bypass surgery: involves using a blood vessel taken from another part of the body to bypass a blocked or narrowed coronary artery.
Prevention
The following lifestyle changes can help to prevent a heart attack occurring as well as help recovery from a heart attack:
• Quit smoking and avoid second-hand smoke
• Control high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol levels
• Get regular medical check-ups and take medication as prescribed
• Exercise regularly, especially heart disease-appropriate exercise
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Follow a heart disease diet
• Control diabetes
• Reduce stress
• Avoid drinking alcohol or do so in moderation.
Additionally, ‘blood-thinning’ medications, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and cholesterol-lowering drugs may be prescribed long term to reduce the risk of a future heart attack.