Heart Attack

It comes without warning. A pressure in the chest as if someone were pressing down with full force. Stabbing pain radiating into the arm, the jaw, the back. Shortness of breath. Cold sweat. Sometimes nausea, dizziness, a feeling of mortal fear — and in the worst case: loss of consciousness. A heart attack is one of the most dramatic experiences a person can have. In a matter of seconds, everything tips over. What was ordinary life a moment ago becomes a state of emergency.

From a medical standpoint it involves an acute circulatory disturbance of the heart muscle — often caused by a blocked coronary artery, sometimes by arrhythmias or other cardiac emergencies. Cardiology can explain it, treat it, often save lives. And that is a good thing. But there is a question that no one asks in the emergency room: What was going on in the heart long before it failed? Not in the organ. In the soul.