Dec
29
Heart Attack: Are You At Risk?
Filed Under heart attacks | Comments Off
Paul Buckley asked:
If you’re male and you lead an inactive lifestyle you probably have at least 3 risk factors associated with heart disease.
I know, I know, you feel fine but so do most people before they have a heart attack. Unfortunately, most people find out they have heart disease the day they are admitted in to hospital, and they are the lucky ones!
Ladies, don’t think this is just something for men to worry about (as it has been in the past). Women, as well as men, are more likely to die of heart disease than of any type of cancer.
This is because of our modern lifestyle. We are working longer hours, so we eat fast food, and there’s no time for exercise. To make matters worse, machines are taking the ‘work’ out of work. We are less active and it’s killing us!
So what are the risk factors for heart disease?
Firstly, there are two types of risk factors: those that can be changed, and those that can’t be changed. It’s important to know that you only need to have 3 of these to be at risk. Each extra risk factor that you have increases your chance of having a heart attack substantially.
Risk factors that can’t be changed:
Heredity: You are at greater risk if your parents, grandparents, brothers, or sisters, have heart disease.
Gender: Men are at greater risk than women, though the risk for women increases after menopause.
Age: As you increase in age, so do your chances of having a heart attack. Once you reach 40 you should have regular check-ups.
Risk factors that can be changed:
Smoking: A smoker is twice as likely than a non-smoker to have a heart attack. It not only places extra strain on the heart and lungs but also makes blood cholesterol stickier, making it easier to block arteries.
High Blood Cholesterol: Cholesterol is produced naturally by the body and is essential to our health. The problem comes when we consume too much in our diet.
High Blood Pressure: Just like with high cholesterol there are no early symptoms. The first most people learn they have this is when it’s at a dangerous level.
Physical Inactivity: If you are inactive, you are more likely to have a heart attack. Even a 10 minute walk each day can make all the difference.
Obesity: If you are obese, you are placing your heart under a great deal of strain even at rest.
I might be at risk, what should I do?
If you think you could be at risk, the first thing you should do is visit your doctor. Secondly, you need to modify your lifestyle. Exercise for at least 10 minutes per day (30 minutes is better but anything is better than nothing!). You also need to eat foods that are low in fat. If you smoke you need to give up.
Even if you don’t have many risk factors it’s a good idea to visit your doctor each year. Some risk factors can change within a short period of time and getting on to them early can make all the difference.
Jesus
If you’re male and you lead an inactive lifestyle you probably have at least 3 risk factors associated with heart disease.
I know, I know, you feel fine but so do most people before they have a heart attack. Unfortunately, most people find out they have heart disease the day they are admitted in to hospital, and they are the lucky ones!
Ladies, don’t think this is just something for men to worry about (as it has been in the past). Women, as well as men, are more likely to die of heart disease than of any type of cancer.
This is because of our modern lifestyle. We are working longer hours, so we eat fast food, and there’s no time for exercise. To make matters worse, machines are taking the ‘work’ out of work. We are less active and it’s killing us!
So what are the risk factors for heart disease?
Firstly, there are two types of risk factors: those that can be changed, and those that can’t be changed. It’s important to know that you only need to have 3 of these to be at risk. Each extra risk factor that you have increases your chance of having a heart attack substantially.
Risk factors that can’t be changed:
Heredity: You are at greater risk if your parents, grandparents, brothers, or sisters, have heart disease.
Gender: Men are at greater risk than women, though the risk for women increases after menopause.
Age: As you increase in age, so do your chances of having a heart attack. Once you reach 40 you should have regular check-ups.
Risk factors that can be changed:
Smoking: A smoker is twice as likely than a non-smoker to have a heart attack. It not only places extra strain on the heart and lungs but also makes blood cholesterol stickier, making it easier to block arteries.
High Blood Cholesterol: Cholesterol is produced naturally by the body and is essential to our health. The problem comes when we consume too much in our diet.
High Blood Pressure: Just like with high cholesterol there are no early symptoms. The first most people learn they have this is when it’s at a dangerous level.
Physical Inactivity: If you are inactive, you are more likely to have a heart attack. Even a 10 minute walk each day can make all the difference.
Obesity: If you are obese, you are placing your heart under a great deal of strain even at rest.
I might be at risk, what should I do?
If you think you could be at risk, the first thing you should do is visit your doctor. Secondly, you need to modify your lifestyle. Exercise for at least 10 minutes per day (30 minutes is better but anything is better than nothing!). You also need to eat foods that are low in fat. If you smoke you need to give up.
Even if you don’t have many risk factors it’s a good idea to visit your doctor each year. Some risk factors can change within a short period of time and getting on to them early can make all the difference.
Jesus
Dec
26
eric nathan asked:
like if u die normal, if u die of age its a heart attack right? people who dont die by being shot or anything they just die of a heart attack when they get old?
but im saying if u just die in your sleep. you’ll get the heart attack or something in your sleep without feeling a thing right?
Julio
like if u die normal, if u die of age its a heart attack right? people who dont die by being shot or anything they just die of a heart attack when they get old?
but im saying if u just die in your sleep. you’ll get the heart attack or something in your sleep without feeling a thing right?
Julio
Dec
18
How can you prevent a heart attack ?
Filed Under heart attacks | 3 Comments
Linda asked:
I want to save lives of others and my life and so i want to know how can i prevent a fatal heart attack or stroke ?
Sandra
I want to save lives of others and my life and so i want to know how can i prevent a fatal heart attack or stroke ?
Sandra
Dec
5
A Brief Glance About a Critical Illness Such as Heart Attack
Filed Under heart attacks | Comments Off
Mike Armstrong asked:
Statistics show that 1 out every 5 women may fall prey to a critical illness such as heart attack, cancer or stroke before reaching the age of 65. The same thing may happen to 1 of every 3 men. Therefore, the risk of catching a critical illness is bigger for men than women. Fortunately people’s awareness has increased. They have started to undergo health check ups regularly. Thus, any critical illness is being able to be discovered before the disease reaches a crucial stage. Let’s have a look at one of the most serious critical illnesses, heart attack.
Heart Attack
Heart attack is the second cause for most critical illness claims in the UK. Current surveys show that heart attacks have decreased significantly. This can be due to better diet, daily exercise, regular health check ups leading to discovery of the critical illness at an early stage. We’ll see at some figures concerning a critical illness such as heart attack from the year 1980 to 1992. According to Coronary Heart Disease Statistics (British Heart Foundation 1997), in the year 1982 about 50 out of 10,000 men of all ages contracted heart attack. Based upon a population of 10,000, about 10 men aged between 15-44, around 110 aged between 45-64 , approximately 200 aged between 65-74 and nearly 225 aged 75 or more all suffered from the same critical illness.
In the year 1992, the rate of heart attack considerably decreased. Based upon a population of 10,000 men, around 35 of all ages had contracted heart attack. Furthermore, nearly 5 men aged between 15-44, around 75 aged between 45-64, about 155 aged between 65-74 and approximately 180 aged 75 or more all suffered from a critical illness such as heart attack.
Moreover, concerning women, According to Coronary Heart Disease Statistics (British Heart Foundation 1997), in the year 1982 about 30 out of 10,000 women of all ages suffered from a critical illness like heart attack. Based upon a population of 10,000, around 2 women aged between 15-44, nearly 40 aged between 45-64, approximately 105 aged between 65-74 and about 135 aged 75 or more all suffered from heart attack.
Additionally, the rate of a critical illness such as heart attack among women decreased even more than that of men. So, let’s see at these figures recorded in the year 1992. About 25 over a population of 10,000 women of all ages suffered from heart attack. Again based upon a population of 10,000 no women aged between 15-44 had contracted this critical illness. Furthermore, nearly 25 aged between 45-64, approximately 65 aged between 65-74 and about 110 aged 75 or plus had all been diagnosed with the critical illness known as heart attack.
The decrease over this period of 10 years was 3.6 percent. As seen, this critical illness had decreased much among women than men. The reason is that men may have worked longer hours, possibly in stressful environments. Thus, time for exercise and dieting may have been a limited factor. At that stage, someone’s chance to suffer from any critical illness could be elevated. Therefore, getting a critical illness cover could be an important move to secure your future.
Michelle
Statistics show that 1 out every 5 women may fall prey to a critical illness such as heart attack, cancer or stroke before reaching the age of 65. The same thing may happen to 1 of every 3 men. Therefore, the risk of catching a critical illness is bigger for men than women. Fortunately people’s awareness has increased. They have started to undergo health check ups regularly. Thus, any critical illness is being able to be discovered before the disease reaches a crucial stage. Let’s have a look at one of the most serious critical illnesses, heart attack.
Heart Attack
Heart attack is the second cause for most critical illness claims in the UK. Current surveys show that heart attacks have decreased significantly. This can be due to better diet, daily exercise, regular health check ups leading to discovery of the critical illness at an early stage. We’ll see at some figures concerning a critical illness such as heart attack from the year 1980 to 1992. According to Coronary Heart Disease Statistics (British Heart Foundation 1997), in the year 1982 about 50 out of 10,000 men of all ages contracted heart attack. Based upon a population of 10,000, about 10 men aged between 15-44, around 110 aged between 45-64 , approximately 200 aged between 65-74 and nearly 225 aged 75 or more all suffered from the same critical illness.
In the year 1992, the rate of heart attack considerably decreased. Based upon a population of 10,000 men, around 35 of all ages had contracted heart attack. Furthermore, nearly 5 men aged between 15-44, around 75 aged between 45-64, about 155 aged between 65-74 and approximately 180 aged 75 or more all suffered from a critical illness such as heart attack.
Moreover, concerning women, According to Coronary Heart Disease Statistics (British Heart Foundation 1997), in the year 1982 about 30 out of 10,000 women of all ages suffered from a critical illness like heart attack. Based upon a population of 10,000, around 2 women aged between 15-44, nearly 40 aged between 45-64, approximately 105 aged between 65-74 and about 135 aged 75 or more all suffered from heart attack.
Additionally, the rate of a critical illness such as heart attack among women decreased even more than that of men. So, let’s see at these figures recorded in the year 1992. About 25 over a population of 10,000 women of all ages suffered from heart attack. Again based upon a population of 10,000 no women aged between 15-44 had contracted this critical illness. Furthermore, nearly 25 aged between 45-64, approximately 65 aged between 65-74 and about 110 aged 75 or plus had all been diagnosed with the critical illness known as heart attack.
The decrease over this period of 10 years was 3.6 percent. As seen, this critical illness had decreased much among women than men. The reason is that men may have worked longer hours, possibly in stressful environments. Thus, time for exercise and dieting may have been a limited factor. At that stage, someone’s chance to suffer from any critical illness could be elevated. Therefore, getting a critical illness cover could be an important move to secure your future.
Michelle
Dec
3
Psoriasis and Heart Attack Risk
Filed Under heart attacks | Comments Off
Empowered Doctor asked:
There is new evidence that an extremely common skin condition is associated with an elevated risk for heart attack.
Were talking about psoriasis, which affects about 2 to 3 percent of the adult population.
As if this condition isn’t bad enough–bear in mind, it can be extensive and really affect ones way of life because of the problems with the skin itself.
But now, there’s new evidence it is associated with deadly cardiovascular disease. You know, it’s sometimes referred to as the heartbreak of psoriasis.
And that couldnt be farther from the truth, in a literal sense.
New research in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association shows that adults with psoriasis, especially younger individuals, are at an increased risk for heart attack.
Dr. Joel Gelfand, the lead researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, says, “Psoriasis is such a complicated disease; most people that develop the disease earlier in life, in their 20s and 30s, it may be that these folks are the ones who may have the highest risk of developing uh heart attacks related to psoriasis if their disease is severe, as opposed to people who develop psoriasis later on in life.”
Understand that psoriasis is a disease of inflammation. And there are inflammatory markers in the blood, like one called c-reactive protein, which are elevated with psoriasis.
The fact is, heart disease is also a condition of inflammation, and c-reactive protein can also be elevated with heart blockages.
So other chronic immune conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis, have already been shown to be associated with higher risks of having a heart attack independent of these major cardiovascular risks factors, instructs Dr. Gelfand.
The authors say the degree of association between severe psoriasis and heart attack in patients younger than 50 is similar to the magnitude of association for other major cardiac risk factors.
The bad news for Ernie Bickford, who is 72 years old, is that he has had a bad case of psoriasis for eight years now. “It’s just itchy, you wake up in the middle of the night and you got to get to a door jam to scratch your back.”
Fortunately, the good news is, because Ernie is older, psoriasis is not a heart attack risk that would be seen in a younger psoriasis patient.
Regardless, all psoriasis patients need to pay close attention to their entire medical care.
Dr. Gelfand says, “People with psoriasis are more likely to have diabetes; they’re more likely to be overweight; they’re more likely to have elevated blood lipids, they’re more likely to be hypertensive, and also they tend to be more likely to smoke. So the patient should ask their dermatologist to screen them for cardiovascular risk factors or if not follow up with a primary doctor or internist who can do these screenings for them.”
One thing for sure you can do: don’t smoke, or if you do, quit.
Smoking has actually been shown to be associated with the onset of psoriasis.
The author says some people have suggested that therefore, its worthwhile encouraging people not to smoke if they have psoriasis because it may actually promote the disease.
Carmen
There is new evidence that an extremely common skin condition is associated with an elevated risk for heart attack.
Were talking about psoriasis, which affects about 2 to 3 percent of the adult population.
As if this condition isn’t bad enough–bear in mind, it can be extensive and really affect ones way of life because of the problems with the skin itself.
But now, there’s new evidence it is associated with deadly cardiovascular disease. You know, it’s sometimes referred to as the heartbreak of psoriasis.
And that couldnt be farther from the truth, in a literal sense.
New research in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association shows that adults with psoriasis, especially younger individuals, are at an increased risk for heart attack.
Dr. Joel Gelfand, the lead researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, says, “Psoriasis is such a complicated disease; most people that develop the disease earlier in life, in their 20s and 30s, it may be that these folks are the ones who may have the highest risk of developing uh heart attacks related to psoriasis if their disease is severe, as opposed to people who develop psoriasis later on in life.”
Understand that psoriasis is a disease of inflammation. And there are inflammatory markers in the blood, like one called c-reactive protein, which are elevated with psoriasis.
The fact is, heart disease is also a condition of inflammation, and c-reactive protein can also be elevated with heart blockages.
So other chronic immune conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis, have already been shown to be associated with higher risks of having a heart attack independent of these major cardiovascular risks factors, instructs Dr. Gelfand.
The authors say the degree of association between severe psoriasis and heart attack in patients younger than 50 is similar to the magnitude of association for other major cardiac risk factors.
The bad news for Ernie Bickford, who is 72 years old, is that he has had a bad case of psoriasis for eight years now. “It’s just itchy, you wake up in the middle of the night and you got to get to a door jam to scratch your back.”
Fortunately, the good news is, because Ernie is older, psoriasis is not a heart attack risk that would be seen in a younger psoriasis patient.
Regardless, all psoriasis patients need to pay close attention to their entire medical care.
Dr. Gelfand says, “People with psoriasis are more likely to have diabetes; they’re more likely to be overweight; they’re more likely to have elevated blood lipids, they’re more likely to be hypertensive, and also they tend to be more likely to smoke. So the patient should ask their dermatologist to screen them for cardiovascular risk factors or if not follow up with a primary doctor or internist who can do these screenings for them.”
One thing for sure you can do: don’t smoke, or if you do, quit.
Smoking has actually been shown to be associated with the onset of psoriasis.
The author says some people have suggested that therefore, its worthwhile encouraging people not to smoke if they have psoriasis because it may actually promote the disease.
Carmen
Dec
1
Why does someone have a heart attack?What are thne symptoms of a heart attack?
Filed Under heart attacks | 1 Comment
