Difference Between Stroke and Heart Attack

Last updated on February 7th, 2025 at 04:58 pm

• Both stroke and cardiac arrest are serious medical emergencies that can be life-threatening.
• Although they may share some similarities, stroke and cardiac arrest are two distinct conditions with different causes, symptoms, and treatments.
• Understanding the differences between stroke and cardiac arrest is essential for timely and effective treatment.

Strokes and heart attacks are often confused with each other, but they are very different medical conditions. A stroke occurs due to a problem in the brain, while an anomaly inside the heart causes a heart attack.

In this article, we will discuss the differences between a stroke and a heart attack in detail, as well as the distinction between cardiac arrest and heart attack. Let’s get started.

What distinguishes a stroke from a heart attack

Before we go deeper into the differences between a stroke and a heart attack I have summarized the points in this table.

WordPress Table

1) What is heart attack?

As with any other tissues in our body, the muscles of the heart also need blood supply for survival. For this, there is a network of arteries and veins around the heart.

In a heart attack sufferer, the artery that carries blood and nutrition to the heart’s muscles gets blocked, which could be for various reasons.

Because of this blockage, that portion of the heart becomes weak, or if that blockage is prolonged, then that part of the heart may become dead. Because of this, the heart stops pumping or becomes weaker and weaker to pump the blood ultimately resulting in a heart attack.

Interesting fact: Which is second heart of human body and why?

2) What is stroke

A stroke is a condition in which the oxygen supply to the brain is reduced when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted. It is a brain emergency, not a heart problem.

Stroke is the second leading cause of death globally. It affects roughly 13.7 million people and kills around 5.5 million annually¹.

There are two main types:

Ischemic Stroke

Ischemic strokes arise from blood clots that block the blood supply to certain parts of the brain. The lack of blood supply results in the death of brain cells.

Approximately 87% of strokes are ischemic stroke¹.

• Caused by blood clots blocking blood flow to part of the brain
• The blocked blood flow causes brain cells to die

Hemorrhagic Stroke

Hemorrhagic strokes occur due to bleeding in the brain caused by ruptured blood vessels. 6.5% to 19.6% of all strokes worldwide are attributed to hemorrhagic stroke².

• Hemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding in the brain.
• This happens when blood vessels in the brain burst.

Common Stroke Symptoms

Before going to common symptoms, you must also learn the early signs of the stroke so that you can recognise it early and you can save the lives of your loved ones.

You can remember the early sign by remembering the term F.A.S.T. In this term, you have to look for signs of weakness in F=Face, A=Arm, S=Speech, T=Treatment. To learn more deeply about these signs, I highly recommend reading this article: “Winter can be fatal for High BP. Three warning signs of a stroke days before“

In addition to this, watch for these sudden changes:

• Severe headache
• Numbness or weakness in parts of the body
• Confusion
• Difficulty speaking or understanding others
• Loss of balance
• Vision changes

3) Treatment

Stroke treatment

The treatment of stroke varies depending on the type of stroke a person has experienced. In ischemic stroke, doctors may try to remove the blood clot or administer a medication called TPA if the stroke is caught early.

In hemorrhagic stroke, controlling the bleeding is the key.

While stroke survivors may experience symptoms for the rest of their lives, they tend to improve over time. Smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, and type 2 diabetes are some of the common risk factors associated with stroke.

Treatment of heart attack

According to the American Heart Association, these are common medical procedures following a heart attack:

• Angioplasty
• Heart valve surgery
• Atherectomy
• Bypass surgery
• Stent procedure

4) Common Risk Factors for stroke and heart attack

• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Obesity
• Type 2 diabetes

Keep Reading:

• How to read ECG: Step-by-step guide
• Heart Attack: Better prediction with New Artificial Intelligence enabled tool