Tag: Heart Attack

Is It Possible To Have A Heart Attack And Not Know It

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Heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is the leading cause of death in the United States. Recent studies have confirmed that sometimes people do unknowingly have a mild heart attack. These “silent heart attacks” can lead to serious heart muscle weakness. In fact, one-in-four heart attacks may not produce any of the normal symptoms someone would associate with heart problems. In most instances, the silent heart attack isn’t life-threatening but could still cause slight damage to the heart muscles or arteries leading to the heart.

Unhealthy activities such as smoking, drinking excessive alcohol, lack of exercise and drugs often lead to issues that can cause heart attacks. High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes and obesity are also contributors to an unhealthy heart and potentially lead to heart attack. If you live with any of the contributing factors for heart attack or heart disease, you should undergo screening for potential heart problems.

Heart Attack or Something Else?

Tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing accompanied by pain or numbness in the left arm could be symptoms of a very serious heart attack. They could also be symptoms of indigestion or acid reflux. Symptoms lasting more than five minutes could indicate a serious heart problem. No one can force you to call 9-1-1 if you suffer from any of these symptoms. However, it is highly recommended that if you feel you’ve had a heart attack, you should go to the doctor and have an EKG.

Heart Attack Prevention

Even if you’ve already experienced a heart attack, there are measures to help prevent future attacks. Obesity is one of the leading causes of heart disease and heart attack. Weight loss and exercise can dramatically decrease the risk of heart attack. Dieting, exercise and weight loss are not often easy life choices to make. Lifestyle changes are the most critical factors in surviving or preventing heart attacks. Some changes may include:

1. Blood thinning medications such as aspirin. Aspirin thins the blood and makes it less likely to clot. Blood clots cause heart attacks. Reducing the potential for clotting reduces the likelihood of heart attack. If you have already experienced heart attack, your physician may prescribe an anti-clotting drug that will help open narrowed arteries.

2. Beta blockers. By lowering heart rate and blood pressure, beta blockers reduce strain and demand on the heart itself. Many patients who have already suffered a heart attack must take beta blockers for the rest of their lives.

3. Diet and exercise. If you’ve never experienced a heart attack, diet and exercise could be the best prevention. Eating a heart-healthy diet and exercising about 30 minutes per day can strengthen the heart muscle and help maintain cleaner arteries. Obesity adds many contributing factors to heart problems. Weight loss brings with it reduced cholesterol and blood pressure, which also reduces the potential for heart attack.

4. Reduce stress. Stress is one of the leading causes of heart attack. Learn to manage your stress by reducing your workload and finding ways to minimize stress in your day-to-day activities will go a long way in preventing heart attack.

What about Heart Disease and Cardiomyopathy

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Well since we are back on the topic of heart disease, since it is the number one killer of mankind in the world, I thought it might be beneficial if I shared some important information about heart disease and cardiomyopthy. What is Cardiomyopathy? It is called by most ” heart muscle disease ” but can be related to any disease of the heart. As a rule of thumb it is usually referred to as ” severe myocardial disease “. It means your heart muscle is not pumping as it should be due to both internal and external forces. What are some of these external and internal forces that bring it about you may ask? Good Question. Here are some causes of Heart Disease.

Alcoholism or severe use of alcohol, prescription drugs as well as other drugs and smoking are three of the largest external forces that are causes of heart disease. On the other hand the most common cause of heart failure internally speaking is ischemia. What is that you may ask? It is a restriction of blood supply to the heart. Yes the heart muscle is the strongest muscle in the human body, but it needs fuel as all other muscles do. A lack of blood supply leads to a lack of oxygen, glucose and other blood fuels needed to fuel the pumping action of the heart. If you dont put gas in your car its simple the car wont go anywhere, will it? The same is with the Heart Muscle, it needs fuel. The following is a list of internal variables that may cause Cardiomyopathy.

Some causes of Cardiomyopathy are:

Atherosclerosis: which are lipid-laden plaques obstructing the lumen of the arteries.

Hypoglycemia: which is a lower than normal level of glucose.

Tachycardia: which is an abnormal rapid beating of the heart.

Hypotension: low blood pressure, e.g. in septic shock, heart failure.

Thromboembolism: which are blood clots.

Now I want to talk about a trace mineral that is very important to start getting into your diet and that is Selenium. Selenium is one of the most important trace minerals needed for the heart, to keep it pumping properly and well fed so that you may live an active life to be free of a Heart Attack, prevent heart disease and heal from a Stroke. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine published 2006,” it was hypothesized that low selenium concentrations are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and that selenium supplements help prevent coronary heart disease.” Have you suffered from a Stroke? Then please just continue to read on.

Now I want to get off topic for a moment and give some interesting case studies to bring home the importance of selenium in your diet. I dont know if you have ever heard of a man named Stewart Berger. In regards to health and nutrition he wrote 5 best selling books on diet and nutrition. He got his degree from Tuft Medical School in Boston and he is most noted for ” The Southhampton Diet for Weight Loss “, ” Forever Young”, ” 20 Years Younger in 20 Weeks” and ” How to be your own Nutritionist ” and guess what. He died at the age of 40 of Cardiomyopathy. What was he lacking in his diet? Selenium, that is what he was deficient in.

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