Heart Disease Facts Every Woman Needs To Know

Even if you don't have symptoms, you could be at risk.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss (there are calories in wine?)—but not when it comes to heart disease.

Only about half of women recognize heart disease as the number-one killer of women, according to the Centers for Disease Control. One possible explanation: Many women still don't know exactly what heart disease is or what it looks like.

When you think heart attack victim, you may picture an overweight, middle-aged man, gripping the left side of his chest, then falling to the floor.

While, yes, that can happen, women are more likely to suffer from back pain, jaw pain, or nausea before a heart attack, according to the American Heart Association.

It should also be noted that heart disease isn't just heart attacks—it refers to anything that can go wrong in your heart, like getting blocked arteries, Suzanne Steinbaum, D.O., director of women's heart health at the Heart and Vascular Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York previously told Womenshealthmag.com.

The good news in all of this? Heart disease—and even heart attacks—are preventable 80 percent of the time, often just by lifestyle changes, according to the AHA. That means eating healthy, exercising regularly, and ditching cigarettes.

Another layer of protection is just knowing all you can about the disease in general. Here, eight things you probably don't know about the number-one killer of women—but absolutely should.

Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined.

An estimated one in four women dies from heart disease; breast cancer, on the other hand, is the cause of death for one in thirty women, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

In fact, more women die from heart disease and stroke than all cancers combined, says Richard Snyder, M.D., board-certified family practice physician and chief medical officer at Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia.

Heart disease also doesn't discriminate—it's the leading cause of death for both African American and white women; and the second leading cause of death, only behind cancer, for all other races, including Hispanic and Asian women.

Also, women of all ages and races aren't talking to their doctors about their risk enough: Only 6 percent of women ages 25 to 34 admitted to doing so; that number only rose to 33 percent for women over the age of 65.

Nine out of 10 women have at least one risk factor.

Underlying heart conditions, birth control pills, smoking, a poor diet, and a lack of exercise can all contribute to heart disease in women—and 90 percent of all women have at least one of those risk factors, according to the AHA.

Still, heart disease can strike in women who don't have a risk factor too. A small study published by the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Canada found that 48 percent of participants—who were young with no known heart disease risk factors—already had signs of atherosclerosis (clogged arteries), which is often one of the first signs of cardiovascular disease.

However, the study also discovered an easy way to determine if you're likely to have thickening blood vessels: measure your waist and hips. Participants with early signs of heart disease tended to have hip measurements that were smaller than, or almost the same as, their waist.

Routine screenings should begin in your20s

Symptoms are really hard to recognize—, especially in women.

Because heart disease symptoms vary greatly between men and women, they're often misread.

In men, the classic heart attack symptom is left-sided chest pain or pressure, sometimes radiating down the arm or into the jaw, says Snyder.

Women, on the other hand, tend to have more subtle symptoms, like fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath, indigestion, back pain, even jaw pain. "If you're experiencing any of these symptoms, it's best to go straight to the local emergency room and prevent potential damage to your heart," says Snyder.

Bystanders are less likely to perform CPR on women

Women are less likely than men to receive CPR in public during cardiac arrest, according to research presented at the 2017 American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions.

The data showed that 45 percent of men received bystander CPR in public, compared to only 39 percent of women. What's more: The odds of survival for men were 23 percent greater than women after being discharged from the hospital, per the AHA.

Researchers believe this is because "CPR involves pushing on the chest so that could make people less certain whether they can or should do CPR in public for women," said Audrey Blewer, M.P.H, the study's lead author in a press release.

"Ultimately this highlights a key knowledge gap in resuscitation science," added Blewer, saying public knowledge of proper CPR tactics is crucial.

You don't need to do mouth-to-mouth to deliver CPR

This kind of CPR is called "hands-only CPR"—no mouth-to-mouth resuscitation necessary. Here's how to do it, per the AHA:

1. Check to see if the person is responsive. Someone who's suffered cardiac arrest won't be able to breathe or move, and they may turn blue.

2. Call 911.

3. Start hands-only compressions. Push hard and fast on the center of the chest at the rate of 120 compressions per minute (doing it to the beat of "Staying Alive" can help).

And yes, hands-only CPR is just as effective as the mouth-to-mouth variety.

Being "fit" doesn't mean you're off the hook for heart disease.

"A common myth is that heart disease doesn't affect women who are fit," says Snyder. "But even if you're very athletic, your risk for heart disease isn't 100 percent eliminated."

Sure, things like over-eating and a sedentary lifestyle increase your risk, but you can be thin and have high cholesterol—everything from your eating habits to being a social smoker can cancel out other healthy habits you have on lockdown.

Even if you don't have symptoms, you may still be at risk.

Roughly 64 percent of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease reported no previous symptoms, according to the CDC, and this is likely because of how easy it is to brush off certain signs as no biggie—you might blame your lightheadedness on standing up too fast, shortness of breath on skipping the gym, and fatigue on a crappy night's sleep.

"Women need to pay attention to their heart, and notice if the activities they normally do are suddenly more difficult," says Steinbaum. "If they are, consider getting your heart checked." Exercise is sometimes the best way to monitor how you feel by assessing how much activity you can do, she says.

Keeping a tab on your hormones can help.

Managing your hormones is an uber-important move in keeping your heart healthy, says Arizona-based functional medicine specialist Westin Childs, D.O.

Estrogen is cardioprotective, meaning it protects against heart disease—hence why a woman's heart disease risk increases significantly post-menopause. "This drop in estrogen is managed genetically, so you can determine when your risk of heart disease increases based on when your mother went through menopause," he says.

Additionally, out-of-whack thyroid hormones can cause an uptick in cholesterol, and in turn, lead to heart damage.

Everyday habits like eating healthy, exercising regularly, and scoring plenty of shuteye can go a long way in keeping your hormones balanced. You can also consult with your physician about having your hormone levels tested, then work together to set (and reach) heart-healthy goals, says Steinbaum.

Reference: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/g19947803/heart-disease-need-to-know-facts/

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Cardiovascular Advances to Watch in the Next Decade

Futuristic technologies discussed at the 2015 American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting:

Several futuristic technologies and their potential impact on healthcare were discussed during the Future of Cardiovascular Medicine track sessions at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2015 annual meeting. Among the topics were use of big data, the integration of smartphones and wearable devices into patient care, robots in the cath lab, 3-D printing and how technology will help lower the cost of clinical trials for drugs and devices and speed their introduction to market.

Smartphone Apps, Wearables

There has been an explosion of healthcare-related apps for smartphones, which number more than 250,000, said Peter Fitzgerald, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Cardiovascular Technology and Innovation, and director of the Core Cardiovascular Analysis Laboratory, Stanford University, California. Consumer-grade wearable devices now interface with these apps to record exercise data, heart rate, blood pressure, ECG and other vitals. Fitzgerald said wearables now account for a quarter of sales growth in personal health monitoring devices. While on the surface this looks like a consumer trend, he said these apps and devices will have a major impact on the future of healthcare.

“There are more cell phones in the world than there are toothbrushes,” he explained. “We are living in a planet of cell phones.”

He said the number of smartphones and the rapid expansion of wearable sensors could be leveraged to bring personalized healthcare to billions of people. This might have a major impact on management of heart failure (HF), where apps can remotely monitor hundreds of thousands of patients for signs that their symptoms are worsening, and can notify patients to increase medications or contact their doctor. Fitzgerald explained this type of big data technology already exists to detect and flag credit card fraud long before a customer realizes their card or personal information was stolen.

“It is like a credit card fraud problem, where software can monitor heart failure remotely,” Fitzgerald said. This would help reduce the current number of HF readmissions for patients with imporperly managed chronic HF. “Hospitals should be for emergencies, not urgencies,” he explained.

Health Kiosks

While apps and personal monitoring devices offer new mechanisms to provide real-time lifestyle management, another innovation to aid patients in a timely manner is the use of healthcare kiosks. These are already coming into use at university health centers for after-hours care, and will soon be available at major pharmacy chains such as the Walgreens and Walmarts of the world. These not only measure blood pressure and take basic vitals, but also can perform simple blood tests, allow two-way video telemedicine conferencing with a healthcare provider and dispense prescriptions.

The 'Uberization' of Healthcare

In the information technology world, a recent innovation has been the software as a service (SaaS) model, where software access can be leased and operated and updated over the Internet, eliminating the need to load the software and regular updates on a hospital’s own computer network or each computer. Fitzgerald said this will be used as a business template for greater electronic access to healthcare. Integrating the use of smartphones, patients will soon be able to access physicians, or locate the closest healthcare kiosk, clinic or hospital using mobile apps. He said this will lead to an “Uberization” of healthcare, similar to customers who use the Uber app to quickly locate and electronically hail the closest available cabs.

“Today’s consumers are much less patient because they expect instantaneous responses, and this will drive healthcare with 30-somethings and younger,” Fitzgerald said.

He acknowledged a lot of older health care providers may have an issue with the generational gap in smartphone technology and the expectation for immediate responses on things like appointments, imaging, and test results. However, Fitzgerald said providers need to adapt to stay competitive in today’s market where consumerism and competition for these patients are now driving healthcare. These new technologies also offer pathways for much-improved efficiency, which many providers might overlook.

David Holmes, M.D., Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and former ACC president asked Fitzgerald what older cardiologists such as himself who might be unfamiliar with mobile technology can do to catch up to this technology boom and move away from how they have always done business.

“Currently you swallow the inefficiencies — you just accept it, but with these new technologies there is a vast improvement in efficiency, you just need a 16-year-old to show you how to use it,” Fitzgerald explained.

Robotics

Robotic systems are now U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared for use for interventional cardiology procedures (Corindus Corpath) and for catheter ablations in the electrophysiology lab (Hanson), which enables more precise, controlled catheter manipulation than is possible with manual manipulation. However, one of the overarching benefits of these systems is that it removes the operator from the radiation field and allows them to work sitting down behind a console, without the need to wear lead aprons, Fitzgerald said. He noted the high statistics of interventional cardiologists who have orthopedic issues from wearing lead for their entire career, and the high rates of left side brain cancers and glaucoma due to radiation exposure. He said robotics can help eliminate these issues and make the cath lab a more comfortable and safer place for physicians to work.

“You can still do your best work in cases, but without the radiation dose,” Fitzgerald said.

Nanobots

Biocompatible machines on or near nano-scale are being developed that might have application for targeted medical therapies in the future, said Anthony DeMaria, M.D., the Judith and Jack White Chair in cardiology and founding director of the Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center at the University of San Diego School of Medicine. A basic example of this is the development of devices that can use nano-bubbles to propel a nanobot through stroke or pulmonary embolism thrombus to create channels that allow faster penetration of tPA to dissolve the clot.

Flexible Sensor Technology

The current explosion of consumer health sensor devices that interface their smartphone is just the beginning of a new era of miniaturized sensor technology, DeMaria said. He explained the next generation of sensor integration will be flexible, microcircuitry devices that can be printed from thin, pliable film for direct contact adhesion on the patient’s skin. These devices, applied like a temporary tattoo or stickers, will be able to directly monitor patient vitals more accurately than most current, larger wearable devices.

Cell Therapy

DeMaria said new cell therapies in development include the concept of “disease in a dish,” where a patient’s own cells can be cultured and made resistant to a particular disease. These cells can then be reintroduced into the patient to make their whole body resistant.

He said another exciting concept is research looking at the use of virus vectors to create targeted pacemaker therapies.

3-D Printing

The use of 3-D printed anatomy from computed tomography (CT) datasets are already being used as a teaching aid at medical schools, and to help plan complex cardiovascular surgical procedures. DeMaria said research is being conducted to replace the polymers currently used to build up the 3-D printed structures with live cells or biocompatible polymers to create replacement organs, heart valves and vessels. The 3-D technology would allow the creation of exact fit replacement parts customized for each patient.

Personalized Medicine

The cost of genetic testing has fallen dramatically over the past decade to a point where it is feasible to screen patients for their predisposition for specific diseases for about $1,000 or less. DeMaria said this type of screening would go a long way to identifying at-risk patients years before they show any signs of disease. It might also aid in the development of personalized pharmacogenomic agents and improved patient monitoring and prevention efforts for many types of diseases, detecting them before an onset of acute care episodes.

Genetic testing will be one part of the future of cardiology where the emphasis will shift to preventive, personalized treatment where the patient is included and actively participates in their care. “Patient participation will be encouraged and increased because of poor participation now,” DeMaria said. “Around 50 percent of patients do not adhere to medication compliance for cardiovascular drugs they are prescribed.”

Use of Big Data

Healthcare has been very focused on using data for administrative purposes and has not been proactive in using it to engage patients or improve patient outcomes, said James Tcheng, M.D., FACC, FSCAI, professor of medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, North Carolina.

“We are falling short of achieving meaningful use of health information technology,” he said. “We are focused on administrative click-off boxes. But, data is now being used to help identify which patients we need to engage, and this is a paradigm shift. I think big data will be a big driver in the future for research and how we provide care.”

With the conversion to electronic medical records (EMR), he said a typical tertiary care hospital generates about 100 terabytes (TB) of data per year. By comparison, he said the Library of Congress is estimated to contain only about 10 TB of text data.

This volume of data offers new sources of healthcare insights that previously were very difficult and time-consuming to tabulate. Take for example the ability to find heart failure (HF) population trends based on region, state, county or individual hospital. These factors might include pulling unrelated vital signs trends from yearly exams or family history in EMRs to predict which patients should be screened for HF years before they present with HF symptoms. Analytics showing low-income areas with a high incidence rate of HF acute care episodes in emergency departments might help target preventive outreach programs or help earmark federal funds. Combing through large amounts of data on a population of patients might also help identify new ways to curb readmission rates or better engage patients so they can manage their condition.

Digital Clinical Trials

Computer modeling is a well-established research method in industries outside of healthcare but it will see growing application in medicine, said Paul David Morris, MBChB MRCP, BMedSci, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom. Computing power today is sophisticated enough to create virtual humans that might be used in the future to perform virtual clinical trials.

He said the technology has already gained acceptance with the FDA with the approval last November of HeartFlow’s virtual computed tomography-fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) software. It uses supercomputing fluid dynamics software to reconstruct a 3-D simulation of a patient’s heart from CT scans. It assesses the FFR blood flow for all coronary vessel segments and has a very close correlation to invasive catheter-based FFR measurements in the cath lab. Another company is Austria-based Vascops, which developed similar software called A4clinics for detailed fluid dynamic analysis for aortic aneurysms, Morris said.

He explained this technology can be translated into virtual clinical trials for new implantable cardiovascular devices. Morris predicts the use of “in-silico” trials in the next few years to help cut clinical trial costs and speed testing to bring devices to market faster.

Heart on a Chip

Ashutosh Agarwal, Ph.D. assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Florida, has been working on developing human organ mimic platforms. Often called “organs on a chip,” he explained a nano-printed silica microchip-like device can be configured in different formats to act as a scaffold for different types of human organ cell cultures. In the case of the heart, strips can be created on the chip to create a scaffold so a culture of human myocytes can grow along them to create a similar cellular alignment as found in the myocardium. This “heart on a chip” created on a thin film, can be cut into strips that will flex as the myocytes contract. Various drug candidates can be used on these chips and the contractibility tested to verify if an agent has any influence on human heart tissue. These systems offer data within minutes or days, instead of weeks or months.

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DIET AND HEART DISEASES

For Indians eating right is a key component of lowering the risk of heart disease. The foods that we eat affect your weight, hormones and the health of our organs, including the heart. Eating a healthy diet can help reduce the risk of heart disease. Keeping your heart healthy by making healthier food choices isn’t as hard as it sounds!

An international study has shown that a diet which includes a moderate intake of fat and fruits and vegetables, and avoidance of high carbohydrates, is associated with lower risk of death. The study found out that consuming a higher amount of fat is associated with a lower risk of death compared to lower intakes. However, a diet high in carbohydrates is related to higher mortality.

Here are some dietary ways to help prevent heart disease.

1. EAT MORE FRUIT AND VEGETABLES: 

Eat more plant-based diet. Your fruits and vegetables should be rainbow in colo02.36ur. They contain fiber which is a nutrient that can help improve our hearts, and also high in like antioxidants as well.

2. REDUCE SALT: 

Salt a bit of a silent killer. Eating too much sodium over time can increase your risk of high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease. Use flavor alternatives like herbs and spices.

3. REDUCE ADDED SUGAR: 

Sugar can increase particular molecules in our blood called triglycerides and high triglycerides can increase the risk of heart disease.

4. UP THE FIBRE: 

Fiber is your friend, not just for helping prevent heart disease, but for keeping your whole body function optimally. Fiber is found in foods like legumes, vegetables, fruits and whole grains like brown rice. Oats, in particular, contain a fiber called beta-glucan and that’s been shown to reduce cholesterol, thereby reducing someone’s risk of heart disease.

5. EAT MORE HEALTHY FATS: 

Unlike trans fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like nuts and oily fish boost heart health. There’s some evidence around fish oils and omega-3s to improve heart health, heart rate, decreasing inflammation and increasing our good cholesterol. Monounsaturated fats like nuts, seeds, and olive oil help improve heart health. Avocado is rich in fiber and also monounsaturated fats.

In recent times, cardiac diseases have become an epidemic, mainly because of unhealthy diet plan and stressful lifestyle. Soon this Heart Month, Dr. Rishi Gupta, Director, Cardiology and Cathlab & Sr. Interventional Cardiologist at Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad focused on diet and stated that as diet and heart is closely related, it is better to follow a controlled diet plan to reduce the risk of heart diseases.

Reference:https://www.aimsindia.com/blog/diet-heart-diseases/

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Too much sitting linked to heart disease, diabetes, premature death

Like many people, I have a job that involves sitting in front of a computer most of the day. Because I work from home, I don’t have to sit through a long commute, and my dog gets me up out of my chair for walks a couple times a day. Still, a new study about the health hazards of sitting too much (or what researchers call sedentary behavior) has made me more conscious of how much-uninterrupted chair time I’m logging each day.

According to the report, published in this week’s Annals of Internal Medicine, more than half of the average person’s waking hours are spent sitting: watching television, working at a computer, commuting, or doing other physically inactive pursuits. But all that sitting could be sending us to an early grave—even those folks who exercise up to an hour a day, say the Canadian researchers who did the study.

Their findings were gleaned from 47 studies that looked at the health effects of sedentary behavior. The researchers adjusted for other types of activity people did, from leisure-time activities to vigorous exercise. Over the course of these studies, people who sat for prolonged periods of time had a higher risk of dying from all causes — even those who exercised regularly. The negative effects were even more pronounced in people who did little or no exercise.

The health hazards of not moving much are wide-ranging, says Dr. Joanne Foody, who directs the Cardiovascular Wellness Center at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “While we often think of the dangers of inactivity in terms of worsening cardiovascular health, there are a myriad of negative effects,” she says. The current study documented higher rates of type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cancer-related deaths in very sedentary people. An unrelated study has linked more sitting and less activity with an increased risk of developing dementia.

Exactly how sitting a lot contributes to poor health isn’t clear. But some research suggests that it has harmful effects on sugar and fat metabolism, both of which affect a person’s risk of diabetes and heart disease, says Dr. I-Min Lee, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Fear of an early death doesn’t usually motivate people to change their habits, but losing weight might be an incentive. You burn 30% more calories when you’re standing than when you’re sitting. It’s not a huge amount, but it adds up over time and contributes to weight control, says Dr. Lee.

The authors of the Annals study offered tips for sitting less, such as standing or moving around for one to three minutes every half hour while you’re at work. “There are lots of apps you can use on your phone or computer that will sound an alarm to remind you,” says Dr. Lee. Standing or exercising when watching TV — even just during commercials —is another popular tip, as is standing when talking on the phone. “The key is to make these things habits that you do without thinking about, like brushing your teeth,” says Dr. Lee.

For me, I hope that standing more will be habit-forming. But in the meantime, I think I’ll download an alarm app on my computer, which should help me get up more often than my dog does. I’m also considering creating a standing desk, as one of my colleagues has done.

Reference:https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/much-sitting-linked-heart-disease-diabetes-premature-death-201501227618

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Show Your Heart Some Love With These Exercises

You may recall from last year's post, How to train for a healthy heart, that February is heart month. I provided a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout that was an effective exercise for maintaining heart health. While HIIT style workouts are a great option, this year I want to revisit the basics -- defining what heart exercise actually is, the important factors you need to know and how you can incorporate this type of exercise into your routine.

What is a heart exercise?

Heart exercise, simply put, is aerobic exercise--a form of physical activity that causes you to breathe harder and your heart to pump faster, circulating blood through your veins so oxygen can get to the working muscles -- your heart is a muscle, see the connection?

For your heart to truly reap the benefits of aerobic exercise you must move your whole body for a minimum of 10 minutes at a time, ideally 30 minutes a day, equaling a total of 150 minutes per week.

The key to maintaining good heart health is that you are partaking in aerobic exercise long enough, you're working hard enough and you're doing it consistently enough.

Know your numbers

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, heart disease affects 1.3 million Canadians.

Knowing your numbers is an important part of instilling these heart-healthy behaviors. To get a clear understanding of where your heart health stands it's important to know the following:

Body fat percentage (BF%) - this is the measure of adipose (fat) tissue within the body. It's measured as a percentage and in managing your BF% you want to stay within the normal, healthy range; 18-24% (average) for men and 24-30 % (average) for women.

Resting heart rate (RHR) - this is the number of times your heart beats per minute while at complete rest. RHR will decrease as your heart becomes stronger and a low resting heart rate is an indicator of a healthy heart.

Blood pressure (BP) - the strength of your blood pushing against your vessels as it moves through the circulatory system. If your BP is too high it puts extra strain on your arteries and your heart. A healthy blood pressure measurement for adults is 120/80.

Cholesterol - is a type of fat found in your blood. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is important for cell function but when 'good' called HDL and 'bad' called LDL cholesterol levels are out of balance you are at risk. Ask your doctor for your numbers.

Training heart rate (THR) - The range that defines the upper and lower limits of your ideal training zone. Take 220 and minus your age, then multiply by .60 (lower range) and .80 (upper range). When you exercise aim to work within this training zone to reap cardiovascular fitness benefits.

Knowledge is power, the more you know about yourself and your health the better equipped you are to do what is necessary -- either continuing down a healthy path or adjusting your lifestyle to make necessary changes. In order to properly monitor your numbers, you need to utilize the tools you have access to. Whether this means regular checkups with your doctor, using your gyms scales or blood pressure monitors or investing in a heart rate monitoring device such as the MYZONE, which can measure your heart rate with up to 99.4 percent EKG accuracy. Know what options are available to you and use them to your advantage.

Heart healthy exercises

1. Walking

You literally can walk off heart disease -- every step you take you're on your way to better heart health. No matter your fitness level, you can walk. If you're starting out, walk briskly for a minute then slow for the next minute and continue with this alteration for up to 30 minutes; or to start just walk what you can. You will build your endurance with every walk you take until you are able to power walk for 30 sustainable minutes minimum.

2. Any aerobic activity or sport you enjoy

When you find an activity that you like to do you are more likely to actually do it. So find a sport or Group Fitness Class that you enjoy and incorporate this into your weekly routine. Whether it's swimming, spinning, dancing, skating or something else that will get you moving and your blood pumping your heart will benefit.

During these activities, you can challenge yourself to make it a workout. For instance, if you enjoy skiing challenge yourself to ski the longer and tougher runs.

3. Weights

Strength training is good for your muscles and, as you know, your heart is a muscle. When you lift weights you use whole body movements and your heart rate goes up. A great option when lifting weights is to create a strength circuit -- moving at a quick pace with little recovery time. Note, lifting weights will not create the same direction results for the heart as aerobic exercise but it's still a great option to add into your routine and effective for managing stress (which in itself is key to having a healthy heart).

Try re-visiting the basics for a healthy heart -- it's all it takes to show your heart some love.

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How to spot and treat a heart attack

A heart attack is the death of a segment of heart muscle caused by a loss of blood supply. The blood is usually cut off when an artery supplying the heart muscle is blocked by a blood clot.

If some of the heart muscle dies, a person experiences chest pain and electrical instability of the heart muscle tissue.

This MNT Knowledge Center will cover information about how and why heart attacks occur, how they are treated, and how to prevent them.

Fast facts on heart attacks:

• During a heart attack, the heart muscle loses blood supply and is damaged.
• Chest discomfort and pain are common symptoms.
• The risk of a heart attack increases when a man is over 45 and a woman is over 55.
• Smoking and obesity are big factors, particularly in the at-risk age range.
  

Symptoms

Heart attacks are a serious form of heart disease, with many different causes.

There are clear symptoms of a heart attack that require immediate medical attention.

A feeling of pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing or aching in the chest or arms that spread to the neck, jaw, or back can be a sign that a person is having a heart attack.

The following are other possible signs and symptoms of a heart attack occurring:

• coughing
• nausea
• vomiting
• crushing chest pain
• dizziness
• shortness of breath called dyspnea
• face seeming gray in color
• a feeling of terror that life is ending
• feeling awful, generally
• restlessness
• feeling clammy and sweaty
• shortness of breath

Changing position does not alleviate the pain of a heart attack. The pain a person feels is normally constant, although it may sometimes come and go.

Warning signs

As heart attacks can be fatal, it is vital to recognize the warning signs that an attack is occurring.

While the symptoms listed above are all linked to heart attacks, there are four warning signs listed by the American Heart Association (AHA) as being crucial signs of an attack. These include:

discomfort, pressure, squeezing, or fullness in the chest that lasts several minutes or resolves then returns

pain or discomfort in the arms, neck, back, stomach, or jaw

sudden shortness of breath

Other signs can include a cold sweat, a sick or nauseous feeling, or being lightheaded.

When a person has these symptoms, the emergency services should be called immediately.

Complications

There are two types of complications that can happen following a heart attack. The first occurs pretty much straight away and the second happens later on.

Immediate complications

Arrhythmias: the heart beats irregularly, either too fast or too slowly.

Cardiogenic shock: a person's blood pressure drops suddenly and the heart cannot supply enough blood for the body to work adequately.

Hypoxemia: levels of oxygen in the blood become too low.

Pulmonary edema: fluid accumulates in and around the lungs.

DVT or deep vein thrombosis: the deep veins of the legs and pelvis develop blood clots that either block or interrupt the flow of blood in the vein.

Myocardial rupture: the heart attack damages the wall of the heart, meaning an increased risk of a heart wall rupture.

A ventricular aneurysm: a heart chamber, known as a ventricle, forms a bulge.

Complications that can occur later

An aneurysm: scar tissue builds up on the damaged heart wall, leading to blood clots, low blood pressure, and abnormal heart rhythms.

Angina: not enough oxygen reaches the heart, causing chest pain.

Congestive heart failure: the heart can only beat very weakly, leaving a person feeling exhausted and breathless.

Edema: fluid accumulates in the ankles and legs, causing them to swell.

Loss of erectile function: erectile dysfunction is generally caused by a vascular problem. However, it can also be the result of depression.

Loss of libido: a loss of sexual drive can happen, especially in the case of men.

Pericarditis: the lining of the heart becomes inflamed, causing serious chest pain.

It is important that a doctor monitors a person for several months after they have had a heart attack to check for any of these complications that may occur.

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Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

In hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the left side of the heart - the part that pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body - is underdeveloped. Its two chambers called the left atrium and the left ventricle, and their valves may be tiny, blocking the flow of oxygenated blood from the lungs.

The heart consists of four chambers: the two upper chambers called atria, where blood enters the heart, and the two lower chambers, called ventricles, where blood is pumped out of the heart. The flow between the chambers is controlled by a set of valves that act as one-way doors.

Normally blood is pumped from the right side of the heart through the pulmonary valve and the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where the blood is filled with oxygen. From the lungs, the blood travels back down to the left atrium and left ventricle. The newly oxygenated blood then is pumped through another big blood vessel called the aorta to the rest of the body.

Babies with hypoplastic left heart syndrome may seem healthy at birth because the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is still open. The PDA is a blood vessel that connects the pulmonary artery to the aorta, allowing blood to continue circulating directly into the aorta and out to the rest of the body, bypassing the lungs and the defective left side of the heart. Once the PDA closes a few days after birth, blood flows to the lungs and then to the left side of the heart, where it is blocked and can't circulate through the rest of the body.

Without treatment, khttps://heartcongress.pulsusconference.com/call-for-abstracts

afflicted with hypoplastic left heart syndrome can die within the first days or weeks of life. Treatment consists of a heart transplant or a series of operations to restore the function of the left side of the heart. Intravenous medication can keep the PDA open until surgery can be performed, but is not a permanent treatment.

Signs and Symptoms

Babies born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome may seem normal at birth but become severely ill soon after birth. Babies may appear ashen or gray, have rapid and difficult breathing and have difficulty feeding. This heart defect is usually fatal within the first days or month of life unless treated.

• Grayish-blue skin color
• Rapid, difficult breathing
• Poor feeding
• Cold hands and feet
• Lethargy

Babies with this disorder could go into shock if the blood flow between the right and left sides of the heart is blocked because of the congenital defect. Signs of shock are abnormal breathing, dilated pupils and a weak and rapid pulse.

Diagnosis

A diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome is confirmed with an echocardiogram, a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart.

Surgical Treatment

Treatment for hypoplastic left heart syndrome requires either a three-step surgical procedure called staged palliation or a heart transplant. Staged palliation is considered one of the major achievements of congenital heart surgery in recent years. The survival rate for children at age 5 is about 70 percent and most of these children have normal growth and development. This three-step surgery procedure is designed to create normal blood flow in and out of the heart, allowing the body to receive the oxygenated blood it needs.

The three steps consist of the following procedures:

Norwood Procedure

This procedure is performed shortly after birth. It converts the right ventricle into the main ventricle pumping blood to both the lungs and the body. The main pulmonary artery and the aorta are connected and the main pulmonary artery is cut off from the two branching pulmonary arteries that direct blood to each side of the lungs. Instead, a connection called a shunt is placed between the pulmonary arteries and the aorta to supply blood to the lungs.

Bi-directional Glenn Operation

This operation usually is performed about six months after the Norwood to divert half of the blood to the lungs when circulation through the lungs no longer needs as much pressure from the ventricle. The shunt to the pulmonary arteries is disconnected and the right pulmonary artery is connected directly to the superior vena cava, the vein that brings deoxygenated blood from the upper part of the body to the heart. This sends half of the deoxygenated blood directly to the lungs without going through the ventricle.

Fontan Operation

This is the third stage, usually performed about 18 to 36 months after the Glenn. It connects the inferior vena cava, the blood vessel that drains deoxygenated blood from the lower part of the body into the heart, to the pulmonary artery by creating a channel through or just outside the heart to direct blood to the pulmonary artery. At this stage, all deoxygenated blood flows passively through the lungs.

The heart transplant is another option for infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. However, suitable donor hearts for babies are often in short supply.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome sufferers will require life-long cardiac care as well as medication. They also will be more prone to heart valve infections, called endocarditis, and will need to take antibiotics before surgery or dental treatment.

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The Difference Between A Heart Attack, Stroke And Cardiac Arrest

This May Save Your Life: The Difference Between A Heart Attack, Stroke, And Cardiac Arrest

Although rare, there may come a time in your life when you experience a life-threatening event. The more you know about what is happening to your body the better chance you have of saving yourself and knowing when to put yourself into the hands of a medical team. This article defines three major life-threatening events, gives you their symptoms and suggests what to do in each situation. According to research, “Cardiovascular disease is the leading global cause of death, accounting for 17.3 million deaths per year, a number that is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030.” Death by a stroke is also high on the list of leading causes of death. With a little knowledge, you can greatly increase your chances of survival.

Definitions

Heart attack: a heart attack is an abrupt and sometimes fatal incidence of coronary thrombosis, the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart that restricts blood flow, typically resulting in the death of part of a heart muscle.

Stroke

• a stroke happens when the blood supply to part of your brain is interrupted or severely reduced, which deprives the brain tissue of essential oxygen and nutrients. Within minutes, brain cells begin to die.
• Cardiac arrest
• cardiac arrest is a sudden cessation of the function of the heart. Unlike a heart attack, cardiac arrest involves the whole heart.

Symptoms and First Aid

Heart Attack

According to the Harvard Health Publications of Harvard Medical School, symptoms of a heart attack may include:

• Pain, burning sensation, tightening and/or pressure in the chest
• Hot flash or a cold sweat
• Dizziness
• Sudden weakness or pain in one or both of the arms
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting

RELATED ARTICLE: 4 Bodily Signs A Heart Attack Is Near

When it comes to first aid, Harvard Health Publications advise that if you experience one or more of the above symptoms call 911. An emergency medical technician will rush you to a hospital in an ambulance full of life-saving equipment that can keep you stable if your heart is in trouble.

Stroke

Symptoms may include:

• Trouble walking
• Trouble with speech
• Difficulty understanding
• Vision trouble
• Sudden, severe headache
• Paralysis or a numb feeling in the legs, arms or face, especially on one side of the body.
• Vomiting

The Mayo Clinic instructs that you seek immediate medical attention if you notice any symptoms of a stroke. They also say to utilize the acronym “FAST” and do the following:

Arms: when you raise both of your arms, do both arms rise up or do one struggle?

Speech: when you try to talk, is your speech slurred or strange?

Time: “If you observe any of these signs, call 911 immediately.”

Cardiac Arrest

Usually, there are no signs of cardiac arrest. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, some symptoms may precede cardiac arrests, such as fainting, blackouts, chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, dizziness, heart palpitations or vomiting.

RELATED ARTICLE: Understanding Coronary Heart Disease

If you experience any of the above symptoms, call 911 immediately. Performing CPR or using a defibrillator is the only way to keep the heart pumping blood to crucial organs of the body.

A heart attack, stroke or cardiac arrest can be deadly, but there are symptoms that can precede them, and with a little knowledge of what the symptoms are and confidence in yourself, you can know when it is time to be safe, not sorry.

In conclusion, heart attack, stroke and cardiac arrest may be top killers, but with advances in medical technology and knowledge, you lower their ability to make you a statistic.

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Teens are getting less sleep, which raises heart disease risk

Teens are getting less sleep these days — and it could make them more likely to have heart disease as adults.

Over the past 20 years, the amount of sleep that teens get has dropped significantly. Only about half of them regularly get more than seven hours of sleep, with older teens sleeping less than younger ones — which, given that the recommended amount is eight to 10 hours, is bad news.

This is bad news for all sorts of reasons. Our bodies need sleep. When we get less sleep, not only are we cranky, we are less able to learn new information, our reaction times are longer, we may have behavioral changes or mental khttps://heartcongress.pulsusconference.com/

 problems — and it affects our health.

In a study just published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers looked at the sleeping habits of 829 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16, with a mean age of 13. They found that a third of them slept less than seven hours every night, and nearly half of them were fully asleep for less than 85% of that nightly sleep time.

But here’s where it gets worrisome. The researchers found that those who got less sleep were more likely to have a high “metabolic risk score.” They were more likely to have belly fat, high blood pressure, and abnormal blood lipids, as well as insulin resistance, something that increases the risk of diabetes.

So not only are sleep-deprived teens more likely to do poorly in school, be depressed, and get into car crashes, they are also more likely to have heart disease when they are adults.

While homework, other activities, and early school start times certainly contribute to teens getting less sleep, the biggest culprit seems to be electronic devices. The blue light emitted from them can wake up the brain, making it harder to fall asleep (the “Night Shift” setting on the phones does not entirely take care of this problem) — but more commonly, teens simply stay up late using them.

This demands action. We can’t just sit back and say that “teens will be teens” when it comes to sleep — not when their future health is at risk.

Here’s what parents can do:
Make a rule that electronic devices get turned off an hour before their teen needs to fall asleep (meaning eight to 10 hours before they need to wake up). It’s best if they are charged outside the bedroom so that there is no temptation to respond to alerts. A second choice is to have phones on “Do Not Disturb,” which quiets all alerts except alarms (although buying an alarm clock is a viable alternative that many people forget about these days).
Enforce this rule.

Prioritize sleep. Sit with your teen and look at how their time is spent, and map out the day so that they can get to bed on time. If their homework and other activities make it impossible to get at least eight hours of sleep, then something needs to give. Physical and mental health needs to be more important than whatever it is they are doing instead of sleeping.
Support community efforts to have later high school start times. Teens are biologically wired to fall asleep late and sleep late, and when we make them get up really early for school, we are only making everything worse.

We want our kids to have a good future. That’s why we talk to them about avoiding tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, about working hard in school and staying out of trouble. And it’s why we need to talk to them about sleep.

Reference: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/teens-are-getting-less-sleep-which-raises-heart-disease-risk-2018062614130

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Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) and Sudden Death

Nowadays, we hear the word heart attack very often around our neighbors. One of the major causes of sudden death is a heart attack, a.k.a. myocardial infarction.

The myocardium (heart muscle tissue) supplies blood and it's where the pressure generated by the heart is greatest. The blood vessel that carries blood under pressure from the heart to the rest of the body is called the artery.

When cholesterol deposits (plaques) form on the inner surfaces of the arteries, it will obstruct the blood flow when the blood clots on the roughened plaques. This condition of the artery is called atherosclerosis and myocardial blockage may cause a heart attack. In addition, myocardial blockage mortality rate is high and even presently, 10-30% of sufferers have died.

When you're suffering from heart problems, it is preferable to perform a Coronary catheterization (crown artery diagnosis) to prevent myocardial blockage from occurring. The possibility of remedy with medicine could be applied in this inspection.

The above statements are commonly known and most doctors advise you not to take fatty foods and take more rest to avoid accumulating cholesterol in the blood. However, our medical studies and my new theory add another important fact to the above statements. What is it?

According to our studies, spasm or convulsion along the blood vessels surrounding the heart are often the cause of heart failures due to stress and fatigue.

Most patients who experienced this phenomenon complained of a toothache, stomachache, shoulder pain, back pain, stiff neck, and ringing in the ears, rather than anything in the heart. Why do I say this? It's because blood tests done by those patients found that their cholesterol contents were normal.

Further studies found that those patients were among white-collar workers rather than blue-collar workers in Japan.

Also, have you ever heard a symptom called "Economy Class Syndrome"? It is medically termed Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and I can tell you that most heart problems we encounter were not due to high cholesterol but to this economy class syndrome. It is more dangerous than any other heart attack.

Your family doctors tell you to avoid fatty foods and eat more vegetable which has fiber contents to reduce cholesterol and prevent high blood pressure. Because of the doctor's advice, entire families were in good condition with low contents of cholesterol in the blood. But suddenly, one collapsed due to a heart attack. Another one was also collapsed and unfortunately died. Both of these incidents showed that their cholesterol contents in the blood were normal. What was wrong with them despite efforts following advises of their doctors? This is what we call Economy Class Syndrome.

During periods of extended inactivity in cramped conditions such as a long plane flight or even a long car ride, normal blood circulation can be restricted. This can cause leg fatigue and discomfort and may contribute to the serious problem of Economy Class Syndrome or DVT. The activity of the calf muscles is needed to contract veins and propel blood from the legs back to the heart. Without this activity, blood can pool in the veins of the leg and form DVT, a blood clot in the legs. The problem may not be obvious until a traveler arrives and begins a normal activity. That's when the clot can dislodge and migrate to the lungs where it can cause a pulmonary embolism, a dangerous and often deadly condition.

How to avoid or escape from such unfortunate incidents? Adequate hydration (drink a considerable amount of water) is necessary. As you have learned during school days, the human body is made up of 60% water. Our body will lose some amounts of water when we stay on the airplane or train for a long period of time. Therefore, blood becomes thick and may cause a blockage. At least half a cup to one cup of water every one hour should be taken diligently as the way of preventing it. Prevent drinking alcohol, even though it's a liquid, it will have an adverse effect since it is diuretic. As a supplement, Vitamin C (500mg or more) is effective for anti-blood oxidization.

Apart from the above preventive measure, moving or massaging your calves, rotating your ankles, or doing rock scissors paper with your toes, are some simple exercises to release the pressure.

    

Our observations and researches show that economy class syndrome or unknown reason of heart attack are more often happening to white-collar workers than to blue-collar workers. This is very obvious that daily exercise is important for us. From today, you may be free from the heart attack.

Unfortunately, PYRO-ENERGEN can do nothing for this kind of heart attack.

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