Heart Attack - Warning Signs & Prevention

Approximately 1.5 million people suffer from heart attack in the United States each year, with a third of those resulting in death. About 50% of those deaths will happen within one hour of the onset of symptoms, therefore, it is important that everyone recognizes the signs in order that sufferers can get to a hospital as soon as possible to avoid death and limit damage to the heart.

Normally oxygen will be carried by the blood flowing through the arteries and into the heart to feed the heart muscles. A heart attack can occur if part of the heart muscle dies/is damaged due to not receiving enough oxygen. Most are caused by blockages due to plaque build-up inside the arteries or to hardening of the artery walls.

How do I know if I'm having a heart attack?

The most common symptom of heart attack, which should never be ignored, is a feeling of pressure/heaviness on the chest. If you feel as if someone is sitting on your chest, it lasts for more than a few minutes and does not go away when you sit or lie down, then you need to dial 9-1-1 immediately. Another possible symptom is pain, which spreads across your back, neck, jaw, shoulders and arms. This may be accompanied by feeling dizzy, nauseous and/or short of breath. There could also be a sudden feeling of extreme fatigue. Sometimes you may feel as if you have heartburn - it can be hard to distinguish between a severe case of heartburn and a heart attack.

The symptoms experienced by men and women can be similar; however, women have reported other symptoms in addition to or instead of the more typical symptoms and these include: difficulty breathing and flu-like symptoms (fatigue, sweaty skin and weakness).

What to do?

If you are in any doubt, call 9-1-1 immediately... better to be safe than sorry! Unless you are in a remote location, do not attempt to drive yourself to the emergency room. If you're not allergic to aspirin, then chew one while you wait for the ambulance arriving.

Whether or not someone survives a heart attack and how well they survive it is dependent upon how quickly they get treatment, how much damage there has been and where the damage is.

Risk Factors

The most common risk factors for a heart attack are:

Age - about 85% of people who die of a heart attack are over the age of 65.SmokingHigh blood pressureHigh cholesterolFamily historyDiabetesObesityStressLack of exerciseAtherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)

How to avoid having a heart attack?

Discuss your risk factors with your doctor and he/she will be able to advise you on how to reduce the risk of heart attack. This advice will include: eating a healthy diet (which will help lower blood pressure and cholesterol); getting plenty of exercise; if you are overweight, then he/she will advise you on the best ways to lose weight; if you're a smoker - stop; if you have hypertension, then make sure you control your blood pressure; and if you have diabetes, you need to control your blood sugar levels.

Your doctor may also want to consider putting you on a course of aspirin as this prevents clots from forming and blocking the arteries.

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We have all seen the movies where the actor clutches his chest and falls to the ground, a victim of a heart attack. Did you know that it doesn't always happen this way? Some people, many of them women, have no idea that they are having a heart attack because the symptoms simply don't fit the stereotypical view most of us have of what a heart attack is like.

Women are especially prone to having different symptoms and many times feel no chest pain at all. Even some emergency rooms don't immediately realize what is occurring in some patients. Women have even been turned away from emergency rooms because the symptoms are so unlike those of most men. A female friend recently had a heart attack and all the pain was concentrated in her jaw, no chest pain at any time! Luckily, the local hospital knew the signs for females.

The classic symptoms that we all know about include a great pressure or pain in the chest area that can extend to the left shoulder and arm. It may also spread to the neck and jaw area. Nausea, sweating and shortness of breath often accompany the chest pain. These are all quickly recognized as being the signs of a heart attack in progress. Quick medical attention is imperative!

But what if there is no chest pain? How can you recognize them so you can quickly get the attention you desperately need? Medical professionals and women themselves need to be aware of the common signs so they can act quickly to prevent further damage to the heart.

About half of women have no chest pain which is quite a surprising number. The most common signs are shortness of breath, feelings of extreme weakness, and great fatigue. Some women report that for several weeks before the heart attack they feel unusual fatigue and discomfort in the upper back.

Many females are misdiagnosed with gastrointestinal problems because only nausea or a feeling of indigestion might be present. Stomach pains may be felt as long as six weeks before the problem reveals itself, and shortness of breath can occur as well. These are common signs among women that a coronary artery is dangerously blocked.

Although warning signs may occur, the actual attack is usually more severe and the symptoms appear even while resting or sleeping. Time is of the essence, and there should be no delay in calling 911 to have an ambulance take you to the hospital. This is the best choice, as they can begin treating the heart attack immediately. Each minute of help improves the chances of minimizing heart damage.

Heart attacks in women can sometimes be difficult to detect. Now that you know these warning signs, they could very well save your life!

Monique Hawkins is an enthusiastic advocate for the use of safe and effective high quality, natural, alternative health products to treat and prevent heart disease. To learn about how to prevent and treat heart disease naturally, visit her blog for weekly tips at heart disease and women

What are the Causes of Coronary Heart Disease? Warning signs are the things that we need to know to prevent more serious complications like heart attack, and stroke. A heart attack occurs when the part of the heart muscle is damaged or dies because they don't receive the required oxygen. Oxygen is carried to the heart by arteries (blood vessels). Heart attacks are usually caused by blockage in the arteries. Heart disease can also be caused by a blood clot that get stuck in a narrow part of an artery to the heart. This usually from where the atherosclerosis has made an artery more narrow. We can notice if we will be having a heart attack by using this guidelines like feeling of pressure or crushing pain in the chest, sometimes with sweating, nausea and vomiting. The feeling of pain that extends from the chest and radiates into the jaw, left arm or left shoulder. Feeling of tightness in the chest and shortness of breath that last for more than a couple of seconds.

Don't ever ignore the pain or discomfort, get help immediately if you think that you are having heart problems or a heart attack. If ever that you are having heart disease like heart attack, call for an health care provider.

While waiting for the medical team, chew one regular tablet of aspirin but do not take it if you have allergy with it. In the hospital they might give the patient a "clot busters" this is the one use to reopen the arteries very fast. IV line will be placed in the left arm for the medications. An electrocardiogram will also be performed and they will give the client an oxygen and watch the heart rate and rhythm on the monitor.

It is very important to be aware about the risk factors and causes of coronary heart disease. These are smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol level, high blood pressure, family history of heart disease, race like African Americans. Hardening of he arteries or atherosclerosis, lack of exercise, stress, obesity and sex wherein the male is more at risk in having heart disease. Heart diseases can be avoided by cessation of smoking, eating a healthy diet, controlling the blood sugar for diabetes patients, exercising, losing weight for those who are overweight and controlling the blood pressure for hypertensive.

Here are the list of signs that should not be ignored:

- Angina- This is the feeling of pain that appears with exertion, tightness, pressure, stress and it usually disappears with rest. The location where the client usually felt it is in the chest, throat, upper abdomen and arms.
- Shortness Of Breath- difficulty in breathing, this occur whether you are exerting yourself, at rest or asleep.
- Edema- this is the swelling of the ankles, usually occurs at the end of the day.
- Palpitations- forceful, rapid, or irregular heartbeat
- Fatigue- A decreased in ability to exercise and easily to be tired.
- Fainting- sudden loss of consciousness or light headedness.

The Causes of Coronary Heart Disease are many fold. Keep yourself fit and eat a healthy diet and help yourself avoid the signs of heart failure.

Charles Wainwright is an acknowledged expert in the field of Heart Health. He focuses especially on the effects of cholesterol on diseases of the heart and cardiovascular system including high blood pressure, strokes, coronary heart disease and heart attacks. For more information please visit the Causes of Coronary Heart Disease and the Signs of Heart Failure.

The Heart Disease Hit List



FACT - Heart disease is the biggest killer in the western world, and has been for more than a century.

FACT - Heart disease related deaths account for more than a third of deaths.

FACT - A large percentage of heart attack victims die before they reach hospital.

FACT - The first sign of heart disease that many heart attack victims notice is sudden excruciating pain followed by death.

Shocked yet? You should be! In-fact we all should be. Many people ignore the occasional chest pain, the twinge in the arm or shoulders after a meal etc, and take no interest in reversing heart disease. Feeling safe in the knowledge that if they have a heart problem they'll go to the hospital and get fixed up; maybe take steps toward reversing heart disease through lifestyle changes if the doc says so. Sounds like a good plan huh? Unfortunately as the above statistics clearly show, the plan can fail with tragic consequences, which could be avoided by reversing heart disease through a change of lifestyle.

Reversing heart disease should be of prime importance to every adult in the western world. Poor lifestyle and complacency are sadly all too closely linked to the heart disease death rate. Check out the chilling statistics and you'll find that the heart disease death rates are similar in every western country, and yet the majority of people are still complacent about the dangers associated with this silent killer.

The main risk factors are:


High Blood Pressure
High Cholesterol
Obesity
Smoking
Sedentary Lifestyle
Stress

Combine a few, or perhaps all of these risk factors and you have a lethal time-bomb ticking away inside of you, with prevention being the best solution by reversing heart disease through lifestyle changes. Most of the major risk factors are silent. They must be sought actively, and much of the responsibility for their detection, and reversing heart disease lies with each of us as individuals. Regular checkups are particularly necessary if there is a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels or diabetes.

There has been a slight decline in the death rate from heart disease over the last two decades as a portion of the population has heeded the warning and taken steps to modify their lifestyle to reduce the risk factors and thus reversing heart disease that would otherwise have progressed within their bodies. Despite this decline however, the death rate is still far too high.

Another worrying problem is the high obesity rate among the young population today and its associated health problems, of which heart disease is only one. Many nutritionists and scientist believe this generation of adults will be among the first to outlive their children, a terrible thought for any parent. This highlights the importance of reversing heart disease factors for ourselves as well as our children through education and encouraging the whole family to get involved in making positive changes to diet and lifestyle.

As with many other degenerative diseases of our society, heart disease is best prevented; rather than trying to gamble on surviving your first wakeup call. Heart disease prevention is best approached by taking steps toward reversing heart disease gradually and always under a doctor's supervision. Educating yourself is also a smart course of action for reversing heart disease and specialist information will always have significantly more effective results. Heart disease is no joke; it's a matter of life and death!

© 2006 Colin L Wolfenden

Finally! How to Reverse or Prevent Heart Disease Without Drugs or Surgery. [http://www.impressiveebooks.com/heart]

Colin L Wolfenden is webmaster for http://www.impressiveebooks.com and http://www.my-resource.com.

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death among people in the United States and in other countries throughout the world. With that in mind, it is important to be vigilant and learn the various warning signs of heart disease so that you can reduce your risk.

Coronary artery disease is the most widespread form of this life-threatening disease, affecting in excess of 14 million people in the US alone.

For some, unfortunately, there are no warning signs, and their first indication that they have developed coronary artery disease is when they suffer their first heart attack.

For others, the warning signs of heart disease you need to be aware of are as follows:

* angina
* palpitations
* shortness of breath
* edema
* fatigue
* fainting

If you experience one or more of the above warning signs of heart disease, then please visit your doctor immediately for treatment.

There are a number of risk factors that contribute to the development of heart disease.

By far the most important risk factor you need to focus on is high cholesterol.

The presence of too much LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) in the body will lead to the formation of plaque in the arteries providing oxygenated blood to your brain, heart and other major organs.

It is important that you monitor your LDL and HDL (good cholesterol) levels and ensure you maintain the correct ratio of both.

This will ultimately reduce your risk of developing coronary artery disease.

Another crucial way to prevent the warning signs of heart disease is to adopt a heart healthy lifestyle.

Modify your diet to include fruits, fish, whole grains, olive oil, vegetables, seeds and nuts.

Avoid foods high in saturated fats, trans fat and cholesterol as these will dramatically increase LDL cholesterol levels putting you at risk.

Exercise on a regular basis by doing something you enjoy and know you will sustain. This will raise HDL cholesterol while lowering LDL.

Give serious consideration to adding natural supplements to your daily routine, as these have proven to be one of the most effective ways to manage cholesterol and increase your overall heart health.

The right natural supplements can make a world of difference in protecting you against the warning signs of heart disease. Check the ingredients and make sure they are purely natural.

Look after your heart and your overall health in general so that you can fully enjoy a long, fun-filled life with your family and loved ones.

If you are ready to prevent the warning signs of heart disease and protect yourself while improving your heart health and overall well-being, then visit my website today for quality information to guide you to success.

Mary Ruddy is a former high cholesterol sufferer, from a family with a history of heart disease, and has successfully achieved perfect cholesterol levels, reversing and eliminating the risk of heart disease, and is a strong advocate of natural health care. Mary enjoys introducing people to the best natural products she can find and uses herself daily at: http://www.curing-cholesterol.com/

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