Question: how are heart attacks caused

Catherine Mansfield answered on 18 Mar 2014:

There are 2 different types of ‘heart attack’. A ‘cardiac arrest’ is when the heart suddenly stops beating meaning that the person is effectively dead. With modern CPR we can sometimes restart the heart again after a cardiac arrest but this is quite difficult to do. If someone suffers a cardiac arrest there is currently only a 10% chance of survival.
The other type of heart attack is a ‘myocardial infarction’. This is where one of the arteries in the heart becomes blocked causing the heart muscle itself to die. When the cells of the heart die the heart can no longer beat as efficiently. The likelihood of dying from a myocardial infarction depends on how much heart tissue is damaged.