Coughing may prevent a heart attack

[street]

Has anyone else heard about this method. I recently heard about this not sure if it has any truth to the procedure or not.
Coughing May Help During Heart Attack

 

[timo2]

interesting story...cough cough....

 

[aja8888]

Let's see...should I cough or dial 911 first?

 

[NW-Bound]

911 Operator: "Could you stop coughing to tell me what the emergency is?"

 

[aja8888]

911 Operator: "Could you stop coughing to tell me what the emergency is?"

Coughing person: I think, cough, cough, I am having, cough, cough, a heart attack, cough cough......


911 Operator: are you sure you don't just have a head cold??

 

[Meadbh]

Please don't overinterpret this.

1. The researcher never said that coughing can "prevent a heart attack". He is, rather, hypothesizing that, in the event of a coronary occlusion, coughing in a rhythmic fashion could stimulate cardiac output.
2. The methodology of his study is flawed. He taught 115 patients how to cough and how to recognize symptoms that may be associated with a coronary occlusion (aka heart attack). Subsequently, many of them used the technique when they felt faint, which is not the same as having a heart attack, and most of them did well. This is an observational study which did not prove anything. There was no control group. The only thing that this study design is good for is generating hypotheses that may be worth testing in a randomized controlled trial.

This is what another expert cardiologist said:
".....the Petelenz study falls short of the scientific standards needed to prove that a treatment works."

This is not ready for prime time, people.

Meadbh, MD

 

[FIREmenow]

Please don't overinterpret this.

1. The researcher never said that coughing can "prevent a heart attack". He is, rather, hypothesizing that, in the event of a coronary occlusion, coughing in a rhythmic fashion could stimulate cardiac output.
2. The methodology of his study is flawed. He taught 115 patients how to cough and how to recognize symptoms that may be associated with a coronary occlusion (aka heart attack). Subsequently, many of them used the technique when they felt faint, which is not the same as having a heart attack, and most of them did well. This is an observational study which did not prove anything. There was no control group. The only thing that this study design is good for is generating hypotheses that may be worth testing in a randomized controlled trial.

This is what another expert cardiologist said:
".....the Petelenz study falls short of the scientific standards needed to prove that a treatment works."

This is not ready for prime time, people.

Meadbh, MD

As a last resort, I'll be coughing my a$$ off on the way to the hospital anyway - it doesn't cost anything.

As an engineer, I can certainly see the physics of the hypothesis....

-- FIREmenow, NOT an MD

 

[DanP]

Did not bother reading the link, but for quite some time it has been suggested that if one recognized certain symptoms forcing a cough could help rev up breathing and circulation to gain more time until help arrived.

Seemed logical and sadly I had to put it in practice some years ago I feel it helped, again the angle is forcing more oxygen into the lungs and to me just helping awareness.

Not a doctor just a comment.

 

[ocean view]

Yes, I heard of something similar from a cardiologist.

On occasion my heart will start to race for no apparent reason while at rest. It usually stops within 30+ seconds. The most serious event happened while I was in labor, just after the epidural was administered. The nurses freaked out and a cardiologist was called...it turned out to be fine. But in my follow-up visits with the cardiologist he told me if it ever happened again I should do 1 of 2 things - force a cough or press on my carotid artery with the same pressure as would be needed to squeeze a tennis ball. The cough trick is easy and less conspicuous, so that's what I do and it does seem to work. He gave me that advice 15 years ago.

 

[street]

From different views from different articles I haven't read where it may make the situation worse. Even with different views it may be worth a try. Thanks for your experience with this method.

 

[Meadbh]

Yes, I heard of something similar from a cardiologist.

On occasion my heart will start to race for no apparent reason while at rest. It usually stops within 30+ seconds. The most serious event happened while I was in labor, just after the epidural was administered. The nurses freaked out and a cardiologist was called...it turned out to be fine. But in my follow-up visits with the cardiologist he told me if it ever happened again I should do 1 of 2 things - force a cough or press on my carotid artery with the same pressure as would be needed to squeeze a tennis ball. The cough trick is easy and less conspicuous, so that's what I do and it does seem to work. He gave me that advice 15 years ago.

This sounds like supraventricular tachycardia, a heart arrhythmia which is frequently associated with an abnormal electrical pathway within the heart. Did it begin and end suddenly? If it is SVT, coughing and other manoeuvres that stimulate the vagus nerve may interrupt the event. SVT is quite common in the general population, particularly in young people.

Supraventricular Tachycardia: A Type of Heart Arrythmia

Managing and Preventing Supraventricular Tachycardia

This is quite different from the situation described in the article quoted by the OP. In SVT, coughing stimulates the vagus nerve (parasympathetic system) to slow the heart rate. In a coronary occlusion, the hypothesis in the study cited by the OP is that coughing can increase intrathoracic pressure, squeeze the damaged heart, and increase cardiac output. That's how CPR works.

It's complicated. And now the doctor is out.

 

[ndnguy822000]

It's true I am a healthy 35 year old and work out and 80% of my diet is vegetables yet I have random heart palpitations and cardiologist suggested when an episode occurs to cough and immediately hold my breath and it has actually slowed and stopped them when they occur

 

[kcowan]

SVT is a much different beast than VT. I had both and SVT required actions described above but VT requires meds. I find rest and deep breathing also helps but have no recurrences since the meds.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Turn your head, and cough.

 

[Nemo2]

Turn your head, and cough.

Congratulations..you're in the Army.

 

[O2Bfree]

Yes, I heard of something similar from a cardiologist.

On occasion my heart will start to race for no apparent reason while at rest. It usually stops within 30+ seconds. The most serious event happened while I was in labor, just after the epidural was administered. The nurses freaked out and a cardiologist was called...it turned out to be fine. But in my follow-up visits with the cardiologist he told me if it ever happened again I should do 1 of 2 things - force a cough or press on my carotid artery with the same pressure as would be needed to squeeze a tennis ball. The cough trick is easy and less conspicuous, so that's what I do and it does seem to work. He gave me that advice 15 years ago.

I had one of those episodes in my 30s, then another in my 40s; then in my late 40s started having them several times a month. I put up with them for several years, thinking it was just a middle-age-female-palpitation thing.

They got really inconvenient because sometimes, usually during exercise, they'd happen repeatedly for an hour or so, making me feel faint. The squeezing/coughing maneuver didn't usually work for me.

I finally mentioned them to my GP, who sent me to a cardiologist, who set me up with a holter monitor. That caught a bunch of episodes, plus they caught one during a stress test. The EKG signal showed that I had an accessory pathway in my heart. An electrophysiologist convinced me that the problem wouldn't go away, and recommended a catheter ablation, where they go into the heart with probes and destroy the extra electrical connection. Sounds scary, but it was no big deal and it fixed the problem.

 

[Nightcap]

This sounds like supraventricular tachycardia, a heart arrhythmia which is frequently associated with an abnormal electrical pathway within the heart. Did it begin and end suddenly? If it is SVT, coughing and other manoeuvres that stimulate the vagus nerve may interrupt the event. SVT is quite common in the general population, particularly in young people.

Supraventricular Tachycardia: A Type of Heart Arrythmia

Managing and Preventing Supraventricular Tachycardia

This is quite different from the situation described in the article quoted by the OP. In SVT, coughing stimulates the vagus nerve (parasympathetic system) to slow the heart rate. In a coronary occlusion, the hypothesis in the study cited by the OP is that coughing can increase intrathoracic pressure, squeeze the damaged heart, and increase cardiac output. That's how CPR works.

It's complicated. And now the doctor is out.

The Valsalva Maneuver works better than coughing, at least for me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver

 

[Meadbh]

The Valsalva Maneuver works better than coughing, at least for me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver

Thank you. When I said "other manoeuvres that stimulate the vagus nerve" I was referring to the Valsalva manoeuvre.