How Much Do You Know About Heart Attacks?

We may hear about heart attack all the time. And most of us will probably know that it is a very serious medical condition that could end the life of the victim. But, how many of us really have a good understanding of this condition?

Heart attack results when a blood clot completely blocks a coronary artery supplying blood to the heart muscle. It will cause death of part of the heart muscle. It is found that the site of blood clot formation during a heart attack is usually a cholesterol plaque on the inner wall of a coronary artery.

A heart attack can cause chest pain, heart failure and electrical instability of the heart. The electrical instability of the heart can then cause life threatening abnormal heart rhythm (also known as arrhythmia).

Normally, some warnings can be observed for a potential heart attack victim. A person with chest pain will not necessarily be qualified as a victim of heart attack, but chest pain or pressure is indeed a common symptom of heart attack. Cardiac chest pain is often vague or dull and may be described as a pressure or band-like sensation, squeezing, heaviness or other discomfort.

Heart attack often occurs from early to late morning. This is due to the higher adrenaline levels released from the adrenal glands during the morning hours. Increased adrenaline in the bloodstream can contribute to the above mentioned plaque rupture. Nevertheless, one should also note that approximately one quarter of all heart attacks is silent, that is, without chest pain. The incidence of ‘silent’ heart attacks may be much higher for diabetics.

In general, a heart attack victim may complain of any one or more of the followings:

chest pressure, sweating, jaw pain, heartburn and/or indigestion, arm pain (more commonly the left arm, but may be either), upper back pain, general malaise (vague feeling of illness), nausea, shortness of breath.

The early heart attack deaths can be avoided if a bystander starts CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) within 5 minutes of the onset of ventricular fibrillation (a type of arrhythmia). CPR involves breathing for the victim and applying external chest compression to make the heart pump. When paramedics arrive, medications and/or electrical shock (cardioversion) to the heart can be administered to convert ventricular fibrillation to a normal heart rhythm. Therefore, a prompt CPR and rapid paramedic response can likely improve the survival chances from a heart attack.

Courtesy: NG PENG HOCK

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Coronary Heart Disease In The Elderly

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause of mortality and morbidity in the elderly. In western countries, it accounts for 80 – 85 percent of all cardiac deaths in older people.

When a person ages, his or her cardiovascular system will undergo some normal and expected changes. These can be age-associated changes in cardiac anatomy; age-associated changes in cardiovascular physiology; and age-associated changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

The presentation of CHD may be altered by these changes together with other age-related changes in the kidneys, brain, and musculoskeletal systems. Ultimately, the diagnosis and hence the treatment of heart disease in elderly may become more complicated.

Various conventional risk factors for CHD among younger people such as smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus remain important factors for elderly. Furthermore, age is a powerful and independent risk factor for CHD. The risk increases when men reach 55 years old and above and women reach 65 years old and above.

Females have a much lower risk of CHD compared to males, but this gender differential diminishes as age advances. For example, the event rate is 1:5 in favor of females at the age of 35, but by the age of 70, the ratio is almost 1:1.

Symptoms such as breathlessness, giddiness or palpitation are quite common for the CHD in the elderly. Sometimes, musculoskeletal problem in the elderly may prevent the patient from complaining of exercise related angina. Instead of complaining of chest pain during a heart attack, an elderly patient may develop difficulty in breathing or symptom of stroke. Silent heart attack is also common. As reported in the Cardiovascular Health Study and the Framingham Heart Study, some 40 percent of unrecognized heart attack was found in those aged between 75 and 84 years.

In the management of heart disease, some diagnostic procedures such as treadmill exercise may not be suitable because of the associated joint problems in the elderly. It is also more risky to perform coronary angiography and coronary angioplasty procedures for the elderly patients with the presence of diminished kidney function. Following a heart attack, the in-hospital mortality and risk of subsequent reinfarction or its complications are all increased in the elderly patients. The use of clot busting medication (thrombolytics) has an increased risk of cerebral hemorrhage in the very elderly. Some age-associated changes in kidney or gastrointestinal function may require reduction in the usual drug dosages when heart medications are used in older patients.

Courtesy: NG PENG HOCK

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How to Prevent Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Attack

Coronary heart disease and heart attack like heart infarction can in great extend be prevented by lifestyle measures.

THE DIRECT CAUSES OF HEART DISEASE

The direct causes of coronary heart disease and heart attack are factors like these:

- Narrowing of blood vessels in the heart and the rest of the body by arteriosclerosis. – High blood cholesterol level. – High blood pressure. – Over-weight. – Diabetes. – High level of the amino acid homocystein in the blood. – High content of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and low content of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in the blood. Lipoprotein is a combination of protein and fatty substances bound together. – Inflammation in the circulatory system. – High age. – Inherited tendencies for high cholesterol levels and heart disease. – Men have somewhat greater chance of getting heart disease than women.

These factors are interrelated in complicated ways, and are causing or amplifying each other. For example, arteriosclerosis will cause higher blood pressure, and high blood pressure will cause even more arteriosclerosis. Many of these factors are ultimately caused or aggravated by these lifestyle factors:

-A too high consume of fat, cholesterol and sugar. -Consuming the wrong fat types. -Lack of fibre, vitamins, minerals and other diet deficiencies. -Stress at work and in the daily life. -Smoking. -Lack of exercise.

Lifestyle adjustments will therefore be the main methods of preventing heart failure.

GENERAL DIET ADVICES

A diet with the aim of preventing heart disease is generally the same as a diet to prevent cancer and other diseases. Here are the general diet advices

- Avoid or reduce the amount of food that are industrially processed, artificially made or heavily fried.

- Eat fish at least every second day. Also eat seafood and fouls.

- Do not eat very much red meat.

- Eat 5 fruits or vegetables each day. Each piece should be of the size of an apple or carrot. They should be raw or carefully boiled so that the nutrients are not washed out.

- Eat full corn bread, full corn cereals, peas, beans and potatoes.

- Eat just a moderate amount of fat.

- Consume cholesterol rich foods like egg, spawn or liver in just moderate amounts.

- Ideally most fat you eat, should be of the type mono-unsaturated. You also need some poly-unsaturated fat of the types omega-3, and omega 6, but not too much of omega-6. The consumption of saturated fat should be moderate.

- In order to achieve right fat balance, much of the fat supply should come from a blending of sources like olive, olive oil, canola oil, nuts, nut oil, sunflower, sunflower oil, linseed oil (flax oil), fish and fish oil.

- Use only a moderate amount of soy oil and corn oil in the diet. Only using such oil types will give you too much poly-unsaturated fat of the omega-6-type.

- Use just a very moderate amount of fat sources like butter, coconut oil and palm oil. A high consumption of these fat sources gives you too much saturated fat.

- Avoid altogether fat that has been chemically altered, giving so-called trans-fat. This type of fat is often found in margarine, cookies, snacks, fast food and other pre-made food.

- Consume just a very moderate amount of sugar, refined flour or refined cereals.

- Consume just a moderate amount of tranquilizers and stimulants like alcohol and caffeine.

- Use just a moderate amount of salt in the food. However, in warm weather and by hard physical work, you will need more salt.

DIET SUPPLEMENTS THAT HELP PREVENT HEART DISEASE

Evidence suggests that it will be helpful to take some supplements of natural substances to prevent heart disease and help to ameliorate already manifest heart problems. These supplements are:

- Omega-3-fatty acids derived from fish and other marine sources, especially the fatty acids EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and alfa-linolaeic acid. 1 gram a day of each of these substances may be taken as a supplement. Higher amounts should only be taken under medical supervision, since higher amount of these substances may cause bleeding tendencies, and may suppress the immune system.

- Supplement of vitamin C has been thought to help prevent heart disease, but newer findings cast doubt upon this.

- Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine), folic acid / folate, vitamin b12 and riboflavin seem to prevent the building up of the substance homocystein in the blood and thereby help prevent heart disease, according to results from research projects.

GET RID OF OVER-WEIGHT

The lifestyle measures listed in this article will also help you loose weight. If these measures are not enough, you should consider engaging in a more specific weight reduction program. You should choose a program that has a moderate fat content philosophy. Some weight reduction programs have a higher fat and low carbohydrate consume philosophy, and those are probably not the best ones to reduce the chance of getting heart disease.

EXERCISE

You should do some exercise of at least half an hour at least every second day. Condition training as vigorous walking, jogging, cycling or swimming is best for reducing the heart attack probability. Muscular building exercises are also of value, especially exercises building leg muscles

STOP SMOKING

If you smoke, stopping or reducing this habit radically will decrease the chance of getting heart problems.

CONTROL DIABETES

If you suffer from diabetes type 1, a good control of the disease by insulin medication and by diet adjustments will help to prevent heart disease.

Many people over the age of 50, and an increasing number of young people suffer from diabetes type 2 because of bad lifestyle. This disease does not necessarily give dramatic symptoms, but the disease increases the chance of getting serious heart problems, and many have the disease without knowing it. This disease can be prevented by the same lifestyle measures depicted above. If you already have got the disease, a more rigorous control of carbohydrate intake is necessary. And sometimes also medication must be used. People over the age of 50 and younger people that do not feel well should find out if they suffer from this condition.

TAKING ASPIRIN

Low doses of acetyl salicylic acid or aspirin prevent heart disease by persons bearing a high risk for heart disease. However, this medication increases the risk of bleeding and should not be used without constant medical supervision. For persons with a low risk of heart disease, the dangers of aspirin will be greater than the benefits.

Courtesy: Knut Holt

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Coronary Artery Disease

Arteries are tough elastic tubes or blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. As arteries moves away from heart, they further divide into smaller vessels. Arteries carry oxygen rich blood away from the heart and on the other hand veins return blood to it.

Normally, arteries have three layers. The inner layer consists of a thin lining of smooth endothelial cells that are backed by fibers and also supports components. It is surrounds by a layer of muscle, which in turn is surrounded by connective tissue cells.

The largest arteries are as thick as human thumb and the thinner arteries are as thin as hair. These thinner arteries are called arterioles. Arteries have thick outer walls and also thick layers of muscles and elastic fibers.

Arteriosclerosis, often called hardening of the arteries also, this is a term which is used to describe a variety of conditions where the artery walls have thickened and lost elasticity. Atherosclerosis is one type of arteriosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is caused by fatty deposits accumulating on the inner lining of the arteries. Other arteriosclerosis conditions occur from calcification of the artery walls, or wall thickening as a result of high blood pressure.

There are four different types of arteries that are coronary, renal, carotid and mesenteric.

Surveys about arteries

A research concludes that women who are used to drink tea are 60% less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis as compared to non tea drinkers. Another survey concludes that 50 men and women having coronary artery disease drink black tea for 8 weeks. They drank four cups of either water or tea a day for four weeks. The arteries of a healthy person release the chemical called nitric oxide which causes the artery to dilate. People with coronary artery disease produce less nitric oxide and thus the arteries do not dilate normally. The study revealed tea reverses this abnormality while drinking water had no effect.

Courtesy: Dr John Anne

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Reversing Heart Disease

For many heart patients finding a way for reversing heart disease is a dream while for others it may be a goal, which they believe may someday be available. When many professionals talks about reversing heart disease they may be referring to the possibility of halting, or at least slowing the progression of the disease. Many cardiologists state that reversing damage done to the heart is not within the scope of today’s medicine and that many surgical techniques can repair damaged blood vessels and even the heart valves, but are dubious about the use of natural medications to reverse any damage already done by heart disease.

Many heart experts claim that once a heart is broke, it is nearly impossible to fix. Valves can be replaced and vessel repaired but there is no known way to allow the body to heal on its own, as far as heart disease is concerned. Many claims of reversing heart disease focus on the effects of a person’s lifestyle and diet has the future of their heart health.

For years the medical community has a drawn a direct correlation between a person’s diet and heart disease. Add to that a lack of exercise and the stage is set for a heart attack. However, some medical professionals dispute the diet-heart connection as being total and point to many other ways of reversing heart disease than a vegetarian lifestyle.

Focus On Overall Individual Health.

While disputes continued over the relationship of diet and heart disease, everyone agrees that eating nutritious meals instead of nutrition-empty calories will have a beneficial effect on reversing heart disease. Exercise is also important as studies have repeatedly shown a connection between a healthy heart and a person’s weight.

When a person is significantly overweight, the heart has to work harder and while under stress may simply give up, causing a heart attack. An overweight person can begin reversing heart disease by losing weight to a level that matches their height and body type. Eating healthy, balanced meals to achieve weight loss is much better for reversing heart disease than crash dieting that can starve the body of vitamins and minerals needed for health.

Lifestyle changes including eating right and exercising can go a long way towards reversing heart disease, but once the heart muscle is damaged, there is no known way to heal it on its own. Heart transplants have been successful, but replacing the heart is in no way part of reversing heart disease.

Common Vitamins and over the counter products can help with Heart Disease such as Vitamin E, Potassium and Phytosterols.

Vitamin E may have a role in reducing the risk of lung cancer, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. It supplies oxygen to the heart and other muscles of the body and aids in the functioning of the immune system.

Potassium may help prevent high blood pressure and protect against artherosclerosis and reduce the risk of stroke.

Phytosterols is found in flax seed and peanuts, which are suggested to help lower serum cholesterol.

This report is nutritional in nature and not to be construed as medical advice.

Always consult your doctor before using this information.

Courtesy: David Cowley

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