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Heart Disease

What is heart disease?

Heart disease includes these conditions or illnesses:

  • Coronary Heart Disease (includes heart attack)
  • Heart Failure
  • Hypertensive Heart Disease
  • Congenital Heart Disease
  • Heart Valve Disorders
  • Infections of the Heart
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Conduction Disorder
  • Rhythm Disorder

What is a heart attack?

The medical term for heart attack is "myocardial infarction." But whatever you call it, a heart attack happens when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is greatly reduced or stopped because one or more of the coronary arteries become narrow or are blocked.

These blockages result from the build up of plaque (a mixture of fatty substances, including cholesterol). Plaque and blood clots build up inside the artery walls, causing them to thicken and harden. The plaque can burst, tear or rupture, creating a sort of snag where a blood clot forms and then blocks the artery. This leads to a heart attack.

If the blood supply is cut off for more than a few minutes, muscles cells suffer permanent injury and die. This can kill or disable a person, depending on how much heart muscle is damaged.

Sometimes an artery around the heart goes into spasm. When this happens, the artery narrows and blood flow to part of the heart muscle slows or stops. We’re not sure what causes a spasm. A severe spasm can also cause a heart attack.

What are the warning signs of a heart attack?

In movies and on TV, heart attacks are sudden and intense, and everyone knows what is going on. In reality, most heart attacks start slowly. The person may experience mild pain or discomfort, but not really know what is going on. When this happens, it is easy to wait too long before getting help.

Here are some warning signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:

  • Chest Discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes. This discomfort may also go away and come back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.
  • Upper Body Discomfort. These symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
  • Shortness of Breath. This feeling often comes along with chest discomfort. But it can occur before the chest discomfort.
  • Other Signs. These may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness.

If you or someone with you has one or more of these signs, don’t delay!

What should I do?

  1. Call 911! If there is chest discomfort, especially with one or more of the warning signs, call 911 right away. Emergency medical services staff can begin treatment when they arrive. They are trained to revive someone whose heart has stopped. Patients with chest pain who arrive by ambulance usually get faster treatment at the hospital.
  2. Get a ride. If you can’t call 911, have someone drive you to the hospital right away. If you’re the one having symptoms, don’t drive yourself, unless you have absolutely no other choice.
  3. Start CPR. Start CPR only if you are certified and only if the victim stops breathing. CPR stands for "Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation." It is a procedure you can learn to help people suffering a stroke. CPR involves a combination of mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing and chest compressions. It keeps some oxygen-rich blood flowing to the brain and other vital organs until medical help arrives. The local American Heart Association or Red Cross offers free classes where you can train and certify in this life-saving technique.
  4. Defibrillators. If you’re in a public place, try to find an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator). More and more malls, offices and public places have these life saving devices. Follow the simple directions on the machine.

What can I do to reduce my risk of getting a heart attack?

You CAN reduce your risk of heart disease. These are the things that you may be able to change or treat to prevent a heart attack.

  • Smoking – Cigarette smoking is the biggest risk factor for sudden cardiac death. Smokers’ risk of heart attack is two to four times that of non-smokers. Smokers who have a heart attack also are more likely to die and to die within an hour. Cigarette smoking also acts with other risk factors to greatly increase the risk for coronary heart disease.

    People who smoke cigars or pipes seem to have a high risk of death from coronary heart disease (and possibly stroke) but their risk isn’t as great as cigarette smokers'. Exposure to other people’s smoke increases the risk of heart disease, even for nonsmokers.
  • Physical Activity – An inactive lifestyle is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Regular, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity helps prevent heart and blood vessel disease. Exercise can help control blood cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity, as well as help lower blood pressure in some people.
  • High Blood Cholesterol – As blood cholesterol rises, so does the risk of coronary heart disease. Plaque and blood clots build up inside the artery walls, causing them to thicken and harden. This can reduce the blood flow and can lead to a heart attack if it takes place in the arteries that bring blood to the heart. For one kind of cholesterol, it is good to have higher levels: high–density lipoprotein cholesterol, or HDL. For low-density lipoprotein (LDL), having too much of this type of cholesterol is bad and can lead to a heart attack. Your doctor can check these levels and help you lower your risk.
  • High Blood Pressure – High blood pressure increases the heart’s work load, causing the heart to thicken and become stiffer. It also increases the risk of stroke, kidney failure and congestive heart failure.
  • Obesity/Overweight – People who have excess body fat are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke even if they have no other risk factors. Excess weight increases the heart’s work. It raises blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. It also lowers HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels. It can also make diabetes more likely to develop. By losing even a s few as 10 to 20 pounds, we can lower the risk of heart disease.
  • Diabetes – Diabetes increases our risk of getting heart disease and of having a stroke. The risks are even greater if blood sugar is not well controlled. About three out of four people with diabetes die of some form of heart or blood vessel disease. If you have diabetes, it's very important to work with your doctor to manage it and control any other risk factors you can.
  • Stress – Some scientists have noticed a link between coronary heart disease risk and stress in a person’s life. But this may depend on how one handles stress. For example, people under stress may overeat, start smoking, or smoke and drink more – actions that would raise their risk of heart disease.
  • Alcohol – Drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure, cause heart failure, and lead to stroke. It can contribute to high triglycerides, cancer, and other diseases, and produce irregular heartbeats. It can also lead to obesity.

The risk of heart disease in people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol (an average of one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men) is lower than in nondrinkers. One drink is defined as 1½ fluid ounces (fl oz) of 80-proof spirits (such as bourbon, Scotch, vodka, gin, etc.), 1 fl oz of 100-proof spirits, 4 fl oz of wine, or 12 fl oz of beer. It is not recommended that non-drinkers start using alcohol or that drinkers increase the amount they drink.

Unfortunately, there are a few risk factors that we just can't change, like growing older or having a family history of heart disease. But, by doing what we can with the ones that we can change, we can really improve our odds of being healthy.


Source: http://www.startwithyourheart.com/HeartHome.html
NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Branch