Treating The Underlying Causes
A number of conditions can contribute to heart failure. Treatment of these other factors may range from surgery or angioplasty to open clogged blood vessels in patients with coronary artery disease to medications prescribed to control high blood pressure, diabetes, anemia or thyroid disease. In addition, it’s particularly important to treat abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias in patients with heart failure.
Congestive Heart Failure: Prevention Treatment And Research
Congestive heart failure is a serious condition in which the heart doesnt pump blood as efficiently as it should. Despite its name, heart failure doesnt mean that the heart has literally failed or is about to stop working. Rather, it means that the heart muscle has become less able to contract over time or has a mechanical problem that limits its ability to fill with blood. As a result, it cant keep up with the bodys demand, and blood returns to the heart faster than it can be pumped outit becomes congested, or backed up. This pumping problem means that not enough oxygen-rich blood can get to the bodys other organs.
The body tries to compensate in different ways. The heart beats faster to take less time for refilling after it contractsbut over the long run, less blood circulates, and the extra effort can cause heart palpitations. The heart also enlarges a bit to make room for the blood. The lungs fill with fluid, causing shortness of breath. The kidneys, when they dont receive enough blood, begin to retain water and sodium, which can lead to kidney failure. With or without treatment, heart failure is often and typically progressive, meaning it gradually gets worse.
More than 5 million people in the United States have congestive heart failure. Its the most common diagnosis in hospitalized patients over age 65. One in nine deaths has heart failure as a contributing cause.
Women Have Heart Attacks Too
Women and men usually experience the same heart attack symptoms. But research shows women tend to not recognise the symptoms as a sign of a heart attack as quickly.
If you’re experiencing symptoms of a heart attack, you should call 999 immediately.In the UK, an average of three women die of coronary heart disease every hour, many of them due to a heart attack.You dramatically reduce your chance of survival if you don’t call 999 straight away.
Most heart attacks are caused by coronary heart disease .
CHD causes your coronary arteries to become narrowed by a gradual build-up of fatty deposits called atheroma.
If a piece of atheroma breaks off, a blood clot forms around this to try and repair the damage to the artery wall.
This clot can block your coronary artery either a partial blockage or total blockage . This causes your heart muscle to be starved of blood and oxygen.
Other less common causes of a heart attack include:
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Top Natural Treatments For Heart Disease
Heart disease is a fearful diagnosis. Everyone knows you need your heart to be working to live. And you need it working well to live well. Ideally, home remedies are used to prevent heart disease, but even if you already have a problem with your heart, natural remedies can often improve your heart health significantly.
Natural remedies that are reported by Earth Clinic readers to help heart disease include apple cider vinegar, a variety of herbs, supplements and dietary changes.
What Happens During A Heart Attack
When a heart attack happens, blood flow to a part of your heart stops or is far below normal, which causes that part of your heart muscle to die. When a part of your heart cant pump because its dying from lack of blood flow, it can disrupt the pumping sequence for the entire heart. That reduces or even stops blood flow to the rest of your body, which can be deadly if it isnt corrected quickly.
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Linus Paulings Heart Disease Therapy
Linus Pauling, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954, established a protocol to prevent heart disease. He believed, as many others do, that heart disease is caused by inadequate vitamin C in the body.
- 2-4 grams Lysine
- 2-4 grams Vitamin C
For those who already have heart disease, the amounts are increased by 50%.
- 6 grams Vitamin C
Because your body uses vitamin C and Lysine quickly, it is best to take these supplements several times a day. If you take them four times a day you will end up taking
- .5 1 gram each of Lysine and Vitamin C for heart disease prevention or
- 1.5 grams each of Lysine and Vitamin C for those with heart disease .
Taking these supplements several times daily will also reduce the risk of side effects.
Other Causes Of A Heart Attack
Not all heart attacks are caused by blockages from atherosclerosis. When other heart and blood vessel conditions cause a heart attack, it is called myocardial infarction in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease . MINOCA is more common in women, younger people, and racial and ethnic minorities, including Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian people.
Conditions that can cause MINOCA have different effects on the heart.
Other conditions may cause symptoms similar to a heart attack. Your doctor will look at all of your test results to rule them out.
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Have Someone Call An Ambulance
If others are around, tell them to stay with you until emergency medical services workers arrive. Calling 911 is usually the fastest way to get emergency care, as opposed to asking someone to drive you to a hospital in their car. EMS workers are trained to revive people experiencing heart attacks and can also transport you to the hospital for rapid care.
If youre in a public space such as a store, school, library, or workplace, theres a good chance theres a defibrillator on hand.
A defibrillator is the kind of device EMS workers use to revive people who are experiencing heart attacks. If youre still conscious at the onset of your heart attack, instruct someone nearby to find the closest defibrillator. Defibrillators come with easy-to-use instructions, so its possible for a non-EMS worker to revive you if the heart attack strikes.
Common Heart Attack Types And Treatments
The type of heart attack you experienced determines the treatments that your medical team will recommend. A heart attack occurs when a blockage in one or more coronary arteries reduces or stops blood flow to the heart, which starves part of the heart muscle of oxygen.
The blockage might be complete or partial:
- A complete blockage of a coronary artery means you suffered a STEMI heart attack or ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
- A partial blockage is an NSTEMI heart attack or a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction
Treatments differ for a STEMI versus NSTEMI heart attack, although there can be some overlap.
Hospitals commonly use techniques to restore blood flow to part of the heart muscle damaged during a heart attack:
- You might receive clot-dissolving drugs , balloon angioplasty , surgery or a combination of treatments.
- About 36 percent of hospitals in the U.S. are equipped to use a procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention , a mechanical means of treating heart attack.
At a hospital equipped to administer PCI, you would likely be sent to a department that specializes in cardiac catheterization, sometimes called a cath lab. There, a diagnostic angiogram can examine blood flow to your heart and reveal how well your heart is pumping. Depending on the results of that procedure, you may be routed to one of three treatments: medical therapy only, PCI or coronary artery bypass grafting .
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Should I Still Call 999 Or Go To Hospital If I’m Worried About My Health
Whether or not you have coronavirus symptoms, it’s essential to dial 999 if you have symptoms that could be a heart attack, or if your heart symptoms get worse.
We are hearing that fewer people are being seen in hospital with heart attacks in recent weeks, which suggests that people are not seeking help when they should do. If you have any of the symptoms described above, you should call 999.
Don’t delay because you think hospitals are too busy – the NHS still has systems in place to treat people for heart attacks. If you delay, you are more likely to suffer serious heart damage and more likely to need intensive care and to spend longer in hospital.
What Are The Risk Factors For Heart Attack
Several health conditions, your lifestyle, and your age and family history can increase your risk for heart disease and heart attack. These are called risk factors. About half of all Americans have at least one of the three key risk factors for heart disease: high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking.2
Some risk factors cannot be controlled, such as your age or family history. But you can take steps to lower your risk by changing the factors you can control.
Learn more about risk factors for heart disease and heart attack.
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Water And Cayenne Pepper
Another online recommendation thats not effective is to drink a glass of water with a spoonful of cayenne pepper in it. Some people say cayenne pepper is a stimulant capable of increasing the heart rate and carrying blood all over the body, balancing circulation. Some claim that cayenne pepper can stop bleeding instantly.
There is no proof, however, that cayenne pepper or other types of pepper are useful when taken at the onset of a heart attack. Whats more, its not understood how capsaicin might interact with aspirin when taken during a heart attack and experts know that aspirin is helpful.
While you cant control all your heart attack risk factors, such as aging, gender , and heredity, there are some that you can control. To prevent your risk of a heart attack:
- Stop smoking and minimize your exposure to secondhand smoke.
- Get your high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure under control by modifying your diet, losing weight, taking medication, or doing a combination of these things.
- Stay physically active daily.
- Control your weight if youre overweight or obese.
- If you have diabetes, take care by sticking to your treatment plan and managing your blood sugar.
- Get a handle on the stress in your life by practicing relaxation techniques like deep breathing or yoga, or try talk therapy.
- Limit your alcohol consumption.
Do Women Of Color Need To Worry About Heart Attack Risk
Yes. All women need to be aware of their heart attack risk and take steps to prevent heart disease.
African-American, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native women often have more heart attack risk factors than white women.1,2 These risk factors can include obesity, lack of physical activity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
African-American women are also more likely to have a heart attack and more likely to die from a heart attack compared with white women.3
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Recovering From A Heart Attack
The time it takes to recover from a heart attack will depend on the amount of damage to your heart muscle.
Most people can return to work after having a heart attack. Some people are well enough to return to work after 2 weeks. Other people may take several months to recover. How quickly you can go back to work depends on your health, the state of your heart and the type of work you do.
The recovery process aims to:
- reduce your risk of another heart attack through a combination of lifestyle changes , and medicines , which help to lower blood cholesterol levels
- gradually restore your physical fitness so you can resume normal activities
Educating New Generations Of Scientists
Even though implantable heart tissue is still a ways off, the fact that CELL-MET has made so much progress in five years is remarkable, says Bishop.
To tackle a problem as thorny as growing heart tissue, the center has had to bring together a massive team of researchers from 14 institutions around the globe. They specialize in many different disciplinesbiology, electrical engineering, computer science, nanotechnology, chemistry, and the list goes on.
I think a lot of our success comes from the fact that were doing transdisciplinary research. Weve all stopped thinking about our individual fields, and started thinking about solving a common problem David Bishop
A miniature living heart chamber replica developed by a multidisciplinary CELL-MET team. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi
So far, this approach seems to be working. In addition to their early heart tissue patches, those collaborations have already resulted in a living heart chamber replica, tiny heart valves on a chip, new nanoscale 3D printing methods, and other advances. It has also led to some offshoot discoveries, including a new contactless electrocardiogram that can sense the hearts electric field using magnets, and is now being developed by a company spun out of Bishops lab. Each of these incremental steps represents a major scientific achievement, and may help scientists create other types of organ tissue in the future.
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Quicker Treatments Better Outcomes
These treatment innovations help doctors diagnose and treat your heart condition more quickly. Having access to these treatments shortly after a heart attack could help restore blood flow to your heart quickly and reduce the amount of damage to your heart muscle.
Theres an adage in cardiology that time is muscle, said Dr. Burke. The longer you wait for treatment, the more you may be at risk of losing heart muscle. Seek medical help immediately if you experience symptoms of a heart attack, which include:
- Pain or discomfort in the neck, jaw or left arm
- A sense of impending doom
In addition to these classic symptoms of a heart attack, women may also experience:
If you have symptoms, call 911 to get immediate help. In the 21st century, you can take advantage of heart treatment innovations and increase your chances of surviving. Not sure youre having a heart attack? Better safe than sorry head for the hospital to be checked out.
Treatments for heart attack and coronary disease continue to improve. Now, theyre evolutionary changes as opposed to revolutionary changes, Dr. Burke said.
Equipment is getting smaller and more portable, allowing doctors to get a better look at whats happening with your heart in a less invasive way. Also, current heart tests expose you to less radiation, and even stents are getting thinner and easier to put in.
All of these innovations add up to better heart care for you and your family if you need it.
Complications Of A Heart Attack
Complications of a heart attack can be serious and possibly life threatening.
These include:
- arrhythmias these are abnormal heartbeats. 1 type is where the heart begins beating faster and faster, then stops beating
- cardiogenic shock where the heart’s muscles are severely damaged and can no longer contract properly to supply enough blood to maintain many body functions
- heart rupture where the heart’s muscles, walls or valves split apart
These complications can happen quickly after a heart attack and are a leading cause of death.
Many people die suddenly from a complication of a heart attack before reaching hospital or within the 1st month after a heart attack.
The outlook often depends on:
- age serious complications are more likely as you get older
- the severity of the heart attack how much of the heart’s muscle has been damaged during the attack
- how long it took before a person received treatment treatment for a heart attack should begin as soon as possible
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Preventing A Heart Attack
There are 5 main steps you can take to reduce your risk of having a heart attack :
- smokers should quit smoking
- lose weight if you’re overweight or obese
- do regular exercise adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, unless advised otherwise by the doctor in charge of your care
- eat a low-fat, high-fibre diet, including wholegrains and at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day
- moderate your alcohol consumption
What Does Depression Have To Do With A Heart Attack
Depression is common after a heart attack. As many as 1 out of every 3 people who have had a heart attack report feelings of depression. People with a higher risk of depression after a heart attack include:
- People who have had depression before
- People who feel alone and without social or emotional support
Many people who have depression dont recognize it. They dont seek help or get treatment. Being depressed can make it harder for you to recover physically. Depression can be treated.
Some people have anxiety after a heart attack, fearing it will happen again. Talk to your doctor about your feelings so that you can manage or reduce your anxiety.
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Heart Attack And Women
A heart attack happens when blood flow in an artery to the heart is blocked by a blood clot or plaque, and the heart muscle begins to die. Women are more likely than men to die after a heart attack. But if you get help quickly, treatment can save your life and prevent permanent damage to your heart.
How A Heart Attack Is Treated
Treatment of an acute heart attack must be early and aggressive. Medical therapy is used to stabilize the cardiovascular system and prevent or at least mitigate long-term complications. This may include angioplasty and the use of thrombolytics or other priority medications for a heart attack.
Heart attacks need to be urgently treated because the blockage of one of the coronary arteries that supplies blood to the heart causes an area of muscle to begin to dieand the longer blood flow is hindered, the more damage that occurs.
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