Even though it is important for all of us to do all we can to lower the major risk factors for heart disease, once you have done so try to keep a sense of proportion. Remember that heart disease is a disease not a punishment. Blaming yourself or feeling guilty or inadequate for developing it is not useful and may increase feelings of helplessness which can be damaging to self-esteem and confidence and may even impede recovery.
Myocardial infarction is the leading cause of death for adults in the United States, Each year, 1.5 million Americans have a heart attack and one-third of these people die. Some factors that predispose people to heart attacks cannot be modified: family history of heart disease, growing older, and being male. But there are other risks that can be reduced or elimiated: cigarette smoking, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diet high in saturated fats, and lack of exercise. By not smoking, eating a healthful diet, exercising regularly, and treating their high blood pressure,many people can avoid having heart attacks.
Symptoms of a heart attack vary, but the most common is a persistent, crushing chest pain that may spread to the left arm, jaw, neck, or shoulder blades and last as long as twelve hours. Sometimes a heart attack causes just a mild pain that can be mistaken for indigestion, but ingestion can ususlly be relieved by antacids.
An abnormality in a valve is usually discovered when the doctor hears a murmur while listening to the heart with a stethoscope. Disorders of the valves may be caused by congential abnormalities or by infection or inflammation. A heart murmur does not always mean that a person has a serious disease.
An estimated 5 percent of adults, mostly women, have a condition known as mitral valve prolapse,which causes problems for only a small number of these individuals.
Various drugs are used for the relief of pain, to improve the pumping action of the heart, and to prevent abnormal rhythms. Oxygen is usually given. In some cases, the doctor inserts a tube into the artery in order to widen the narrowed area. In other cases, coronary artery bypass graft surgery is performed, in which arteries from other parts of the body are transplanted to the heart to provide increased blood flow to the heart muscle.
One of the common heart disease is nonetheless, coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease results from a restricted suupply of blood to the heart muscle. When arteries become clogged, or narrowed, by deposits of hardened fat, cholesterol, and other substances called plague, blood does not flow through them easily. You can get a
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