Sudden Cardiac Arrest is the leading causes of death in American adults. This is the cause of death in more than 320,000 Americans each year, bringing it into first place among causes of mortality in the U.S. Sudden Cardiac Arrest is something whose name alone terrifies many. There are often no warning signs before the cardiac arrest episode, making it difficult to know if you are at a particularly high risk. There are of course many risk factors, but since Sudden Cardiac Arrest (or SCA) may happen even in those individuals who are relatively healthy it is a frightening prospect.

As the name impies, SCA is a sudden failure of the heart to do the work of circulating blood throughout the body. The cause of SCA is generally irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia. This may be either ventricular tachycardia (or VT, as it is known among cardiologists), which denotes a rapid heartbeat; or irregular heartbeat, known to cardiologists as ventricular fibrillation or (VF). Of course, the layman will typically refer to either simply as a heart attack. Whatever the cause, SCA is often fatal, particularly if the victim cannot receive medical treatment quickly enough.

It should be noted that a heart attack and SCA are actually quite different things. A heart attack, or myocardial infarction is due to a blockage in blood vessels to the heart, causing the muscle to die. By comparison, SCA is a case where the electrical impulses from the brain which regulate the heartbeat fail, resulting in blood not being pumped to the brain and other vitally important organs in the body.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest in adults is about twice as common in men as it is in women and usually occurs in the victim's mid thirties to late forties; this seems to be the window of highest risk for a variety of factors. If you have a history of heart disease in your family you may be at a higher risk of SCA; you should inform your doctor of your medical history and make sure to receive regular checkups, including heart function. Other medical and lifestyle factors play a role in your risk as well, including obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. If you have any of these lifestyle related risk factors, you should work to reduce your risk of SCA.

The survival rates for those who suffer a cardiac arrest are grim: only about 5% of cardiac arrest victims survive. However, it is the case that if medical treatment is received quickly, many of these people would survive. Defibrillation is one of the treatments used by first responders - and having a defibrillator in your home can quite literally be a lifesaver. If you have an increased risk for SCA, or merely want to be prepared for this life threatening event, having a home defibrillator is a great idea.