By Kevin Lamb, Cox News Service
DAYTON, Ohio -- Coughing will not prevent a heart attack, in case
anyone was wondering.
The question came up after a recent e-mail message circulated
with the virulence of a chain letter. It says that anyone who feels
heart attack symptoms while alone should cough ``repeatedly and
very vigorously,'' repeating a breath ``about every two seconds. .
. until help arrives, or until (a normal heartbeat returns).''
The advice even cites some impressive sources.
But it is wrong on so many levels, say both the American Heart
Association and Dr. Gary Fishbein, a cardiologist with the Dayton
Heart Center.
``It's right up there with voodoo as far as I'm concerned,''
Fishbein says.
The first clue is that the message begins with the scenario of
someone driving home at 4:17 p.m. ``after an unusually hard day on
the job.''
``I want that job,'' Fishbein says.
Then, while it correctly identifies heart attack symptoms as
severe chest pain that radiates into the arm and jaw, the faintness
the imaginary patient feels is a sign not of a heart attack but of
cardiac arrest, from which fewer than 5 percent of people revive.
With a heart attack, Fishbein says, ``You usually fall over
without any warning'' of faintness. ``But they say to call 911
between breaths. I love that.''
Immediately calling 911 is the only smart move for a person who
feels heart attack symptoms while alone, say Fishbein and the Heart
Association.
According to Heart Association spokeswoman Allison Dubbs in
Columbus, Ohio, the keys to surviving cardiac arrest are:
-- Early recognition of warning signs.
-- Taking immediate action, including the 911 call.
-- Getting CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) from a medical
professional or someone who is trained in CPR, although even those
whose CPR skills are rusty should try to help rather than allow a
cardiac arrest to proceed without intervention.
-- Getting early access to automated external defibrillation
(AED).
-- Receiving medical attention from paramedics and trained
emergency room staff as quickly as possible.
Fishbein wasn't surprised to learn the message appears verbatim
on a Web site for urban legends
(urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blcpr.htm?pid2733&cobhome). The
researcher there traced it to a later retracted report in a
newsletter for heart attack survivors.
``Every piece of garbage has some truth to it,'' Fishbein says,
and he thinks he knows how this might have started.
During heart catheterization procedures, the replacement of
blood in the heart by contrast dye can induce a heart attack,
although it happens less often with dyes currently used. When that
happens, Fishbein says, some doctors have the patient cough.
``Coughing can force blood back into the heart and help in
squeezing the blood that's left in the chest up to the head,'' he
says. It won't restore normal heart rhythm, but it will buy a few
seconds to give the patients better odds of revival with CPR.
The best way to survive a heart attack is to avoid it altogether
by getting early treatment for heart problems, Fishbein says. ``If
you think you might have heart disease,'' he says, ``get checked
out.''
