The American Heart Association proclaims each February as Heart Heath Month. The importance of focusing on heart disease cannot be overstated. Heart disease (which includes coronary artery disease, stroke and other heart conditions) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Each year 787,000 people die from some form of heart disease. Heart attacks are responsible for 380,000 deaths annually. To put these numbers in perspective, every 34 seconds someone in the United States has a heart attack. Every 60 seconds, someone dies from a heart disease-related event.
In one-third of persons with coronary artery disease, the first sign of illness is a life-ending heart attack. Knowing the risk factors that cause a heart attack and taking steps to address them are critically important.
The risk factors for heart disease fall into two categories. 1. Modifiable risk factors – those we can influence or eliminate. 2. Non-modifiable: those we cannot change. Let us start with the non-modifiable factors.
Age: As we grow older, our risk of having a heart attack increases. Most heart attacks occur after age 65 years. Heart attacks occurring before age 55 are considered to be premature and usually have a genetic component.
Gender: Men have higher rates of heart attacks than women. Before menopause, the rate of coronary heart events is four times higher in men than in women. At menopause men’s risk is still double that of women. By age 65 years, the rates become equal between men and women. Much of the differences between the sexes is due to women having higher HDL-cholesterol levels than men.
Family History: You are considered to have a positive family history if either 1. You have male relatives that have had a cardiovascular event prior to age 55 years; or 2. You have female relatives that have had a cardiovascular event prior to age 65 years. Cardiovascular events include: heart attacks, strokes or procedures to open-up or bypass a narrowed artery.
Race: Native Alaskans have lower rates of coronary artery disease than Caucasians. All other races have higher rates, the highest rate occurs in Black Americans.
Modifiable risk factors are conditions we can either improve or eliminate.
Smoking: Heart attack rates are doubled in smokers. QUIT! The increased risk for heart attacks decreases back to that of a nonsmoker after only two years of quitting smoking.
High Blood Pressure: A blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher defines hypertension. Reducing salt in the diet and regular physical activity and weight will reduce or even eliminate high blood pressure. If needed, there are effective medicines that can control your blood pressure with few (if any) side effects.
Diabetes: Cardiovascular disease is 2 to 4 times more common among men with diabetes and 5 to 8 times more common among women with diabetes. Keeping your blood glucose levels under good control has been shown to decrease your risk significantly.
Cholesterol: LDL-cholesterol is the form of cholesterol most closely linked to causing cardiovascular disease.
HDL-cholesterol is thought to help protect against cardiovascular disease by removing cholesterol build-up in the walls of your arteries. Talk to your health care provider about what your blood cholesterol levels should be for you.
Physical Activity: Lack of physical activity increases your risk of a heart attack. Physical activity (for example, brisk walking for 30 minutes 5 days each week) will greatly decrease your risk.
Proper Nutrition: A heart healthy diet decreases LDL-cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugars and body weight. Talk with your health care provider about the best meal plan and ask them about seeing a dietitian to help you.
What is a minor heart attack?
A heart attack does not always have obvious symptoms, such as pain in your chest, shortness of breath and cold sweats. In fact, a heart attack can actually happen without a person knowing it. It is called a silent heart attack, or medically referred to as silent ischemia (lack of oxygen) to the heart muscle.
What is considered a heart attack?
Myocardial infarction – The damaging or death of an area of the heart muscle (myocardium) resulting from a blocked blood supply to that area; medical term for aheart attack. Coronary thrombosis – Formation of a clot in one of the arteries that conduct blood to the heart muscle. Also called coronary occlusion
Can you have a heart attack and it go away?
You should still get it checked out by a doctor. If the symptoms are more severe and don't go away after a few minutes, you should call 911. Also, keep in mind you canhave heart problems -- even a heart attack -- without chest pain
How do you know when you are having a heart attack?
Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort. Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness
What does a silent heart attack mean?
A silent heart attack is a heart attack that has few, if any, symptoms. You may have never had any symptoms to warn you that you've developed a heart problem, such as chest pain or shortness of breath.
What does a mini heart attack feel like?
You may be having a heart attack if you feel: Pain, pressure, or squeezing in your chest, particularly a little to the left side. Pain or pressure in your upper body likeyour neck, jawline, back, stomach, or in one or both of your arms (especially your left) Shortness of breath
Can you die instantly from a heart attack?
But heart attacks don't always kill instantly. ... And a person can also die from aheart attack that causes no irregular heartbeat at all — the heart muscle can be so damaged from the lack of oxygen that the heart can no longer pump enough blood, which can lead to death, she said
Can you stop a heart attack at home?
Acting quickly can save lives. If given quickly after symptoms, clot-busting and artery-opening medications can stop a heart attack, and having a catheterization with a stent put in may open a closed blood vessel. The longer you wait for treatment, the more chances of survival go down and damage to the heart goes up.
Can you have symptoms of a heart attack for weeks?
Some heart attacks strike suddenly, but many people have warning signs andsymptoms hours, days or weeks in advance. The earliest warning may be recurrent chest pain (angina) that's triggered by exertion and relieved by rest. ... A heart attack can cause cardiac arrest, but it's not the only cause
Can the symptoms of a heart attack come and go?
Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. ... Other symptoms can includepain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach; shortness of breath or breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
What are the 4 silent signs of a heart attack?
Fatigue. istock/Yuri_Arcurs. ...
Soreness in the back, arms, or chest. istock/gpointstudio. ...
Shortness of breath. istock/gpointstudio. ...
Heartburn or belching. istock/OJO_Images. ...
Stomach upset. istock/vitapix. ...
Throat, neck, or jaw discomfort. istock/Remains. ...
An overall feeling that something's wrong. istock/Juanmonino
Can a man have a silent heart attack?
Silent heart attacks: Much more common than we thought in both men and women. ... In addition to chest pain, some of the other symptoms that can occur with a heart attack include chest pressure, chest heaviness, arm pain, neck pain, jaw pain, shortness of breath, sweating, extreme fatigue, dizziness, and nausea.
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