Heart attack stroke and cardiac arrest

Heart attack, stroke, and cardiac arrest—you're probably familiar with all three and know that they're serious conditions requiring medical attention. But you might not know what's actually going on in the body during these three events. With that in mind, we talked to experts to flesh out the differences between these conditions, including the signs and risk factors you should know about.
First of all, a heart attack isn’t the same thing as cardiac arrest.
The two terms are used interchangeably a lot, but they’re actually different. “A heart attack happens when one of the main arteries of the heart gets blocked, causing the heart to not get enough blood flow,” cardiologist Jennifer Haythe, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and co-director of the Women’s Center for Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Medical Center, tells SELF. This can be caused by plaque buildup in the arteries, which can break open and form a blood clot that blocks blood flow.

Cardiac arrest, on the other hand, happens when the heart stops completely or has a dangerous rhythm, she says. Cardiac arrests can sometimes be caused by heart attacks, Dr. Haythe says, but they can also be caused by things like sepsis, trauma, a pulmonary embolism, infection, and
“They are two completely different problems,” Shephal Doshi, M.D., director of cardiac electrophysiology and pacing at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells SELF. “A heart attack is essentially a plumbing problem, while a cardiac arrest is an electrical short circuit.”

heart rhythm problems.