What Are The Heart Disease Risk Factors That I Cannot Change
- Age. Your risk of heart disease increases as you get older. Men age 45 and older and women age 55 and older have a greater risk.
- Sex. Some risk factors may affect heart disease risk differently in women than in men. For example, estrogen provides women some protection against heart disease, but diabetes raises the risk of heart disease more in women than in men.
- Race or ethnicity. Certain groups have higher risks than others. African Americans are more likely than whites to have heart disease, while Hispanic Americans are less likely to have it. Some Asian groups, such as East Asians, have lower rates, but South Asians have higher rates.
- Family history. You have a greater risk if you have a close family member who had heart disease at an early age.
Heart Attack Symptoms In Women
Although many people think heart attacks happen mostly to men, heartdisease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. So it’s justas important for women of every age torecognize heart attack signsand seek immediate medical attention.
For the vast majority of people men and women chest pain or discomfortis the primary symptom of a heart attack. However, women are more likelythan men are to have less recognizable heart attack symptoms, such as:
- Pain or discomfort in different parts of the upper body
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea and vomiting
What Are The Risk Factors For Heart Attack
Well-known risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis and heart attacks include:
- Elevated levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood
- Family history of early coronary heart disease, including a heart attack or sudden death before age 55 in the father or other male first-degree relative, or before age 65 in the mother or other female first-degree relative
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What Do I Do If I Have A Heart Attack
After a heart attack, you need quick treatment to open the blocked artery and lessen the damage. At the first signs of a heart attack, call 911. The best time to treat a heart attack is within 1 or 2 hours after symptoms begin. Waiting longer means more damage to your heart and a lower chance of survival.
If youâve called emergency services and are waiting for them to arrive, chew an aspirin . Aspirin is a potent inhibitor of blood clots and can lower the risk of death from a heart attack by 25%.
Aim For A Healthy Weight
Obesity is highly prevalent in America, not only for adults but also for children. Fad diets and supplements are not the answer. Good nutrition, controlling calorie intake and physical activity are the only way to maintain a healthy weight. Obesity places you at risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance, a precursor of type 2 diabetes the very factors that heighten your risk of cardiovascular disease. Your Body Mass Index can help tell you if your weight is healthy.
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What Are Clinical Trials For Diabetes Heart Disease And Stroke
Clinical trialsand other types of clinical studiesare part of medical research and involve people like you. When you volunteer to take part in a clinical study, you help doctors and researchers learn more about disease and improve health care for people in the future.
Researchers are studying many aspects of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, such as
- risk factors for heart disease and stroke in specific populations, such as Black Americans with diabetes
- improved imaging techniques and tests to help diagnose and treat conditions that lead to heart attacks and stroke
- the role of genetics in diabetes, heart disease, and stroke
Does Your Body Warn You Before A Heart Attack
They include the following: Pressure, fullness, squeezing pain in the center of the chest, spreading to the neck, shoulder or jaw. Light-headedness, fainting, sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort. Upper abdominal pressure or discomfort.
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How Soon Can I Return To Regular Activities
After a heart attack, you will want to go back to your regular life. This especially can be true if you spent time in the hospital. However, the answer depends on your normal routine and the condition of your heart. Its important to start slowly to give your heart a chance to heal. Your doctor will talk to you about when you can be active again and what you should do. Do not return to any kind of exercise without talking to your doctor first. It also is important to sign up for a cardiac rehabilitation program. This monitors your blood pressure, heart rate, and heartbeat as you exercise.
Take Charge Of Your Medical Conditions
If you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, you can take steps to lower your risk for heart disease.
Your health care team should test your blood levels of cholesterol at least once every 4 to 6 years. If you have already been diagnosed with high cholesterol or have a family history of the condition, you may need to have your cholesterol checked more often. Talk with your health care team about this simple blood test. If you have high cholesterol, medicines and lifestyle changes can help reduce your risk for heart disease.
High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, so have it checked on a regular basis. Your health care team should measure your blood pressure at least once every 2 years if you have never had high blood pressure or other risk factors for heart disease.
If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, also called hypertension, your health care team will measure your blood pressure more often to make sure you have the condition under control. Talk with your health care team about how often you should check your blood pressure. You can check it at a doctors office, at a pharmacy, or at home.
If you have high blood pressure, your health care team might recommend some changes in your lifestyle, such as lowering the sodium in your diet your doctor may also prescribe medicine to help lower your blood pressure.
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Stroke Prevention Can Start Today Protect Yourself And Avoid Stroke Regardless Of Your Age Or Family History
What can you do to prevent stroke? Age makes us more susceptible to having a stroke, as does having a mother, father, or other close relative who has had a stroke.
You can’t reverse the years or change your family history, but there are many other stroke risk factors that you can controlprovided that you’re aware of them. Knowledge is power. If you know that a particular risk factor is sabotaging your health and predisposing you to a higher risk of stroke, you can take steps to alleviate the effects of that risk.
How Do You Prevent A Heart Attack In 10 Seconds
The American Heart Association recommends the following actions to reduce your risk for a second heart attack: Quit smoking. Eat a heart -healthy diet. Control your cholesterol. Exercise regularly. Stay at a healthy weight. Control high blood pressure. Assess your mental health. Take your medicines as directed.
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What Are The Early Detection Symptoms Of Heart Attack
Chest Discomfort
This can arrive in different forms for different people. It is essentially a feeling of tightness or pain in the chest. It can feel as if a huge weight has been kept on your chest, or can be a burning and pinching sensation. It can happen when you are active or when you are at rest, and usually lasts longer than a few minutes. It is important to note that a heart attack can also happen without pain, and this usually happens more with women.
Nausea & Heartburn
Many people have reported symptoms of nausea, heartburn, indigestion and pain in the stomach before suffering a heart attack. Of course, these symptoms can also occur without being accompanied by a heart attack.
Pain in the Arm
A classic symptom of a heart attack is a pain that almost always begins in the chest and moves outward, flowing down the left side of the body often along the arm. Yes, it can also just be simply that: An arm pain.
Dizziness
A feeling of dizziness, or lightness in the head, can happen due to many reasons such as lack of food or standing up too fast and not because a heart attack is on its way. However, if you suddenly feel faint or out-of-balance in the head and also feel a discomfort in the chest at the same time, its time to get alert.
Pain in the Throat
Exhaustion & Fatigue
Snoring
Cold Sweat
Coughing
Swollen feet
Fluctuating Heartbeat
Lifestyle Changes To Improve Your Cholesterol
If you have had a heart attack, you may feel worried and overwhelmed. You probably have a lot of questions. We can help answer some of these questions and provide ways to recover and stay well.
To start, its important to take care of yourself. Look to those around you for help during this time. Talk to your doctor for specific advice or if you have any concerns.
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What Questions Should I Ask My Doctor
- How concerned should I be about having another heart attack?
- How successful are the treatments for a heart attack?
- Whats the most important thing I can do to prevent a silent heart attack?
A note from Cleveland Clinic
You may not even know youve had a silent heart attack until weeks or months after it happens. Its best to know whats normal for your body and get help when something doesnt feel right. Knowing the subtle signs of a silent heart attack can help you identify one. Be sure to get regular checkups with your healthcare provider. You can also help yourself by treating medical problems that can lead to a heart attack. Switching to a healthier diet and adding exercise can help as well.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 07/28/2021.
References
Do Hormones Affect Your Risk Of A Heart Attack
Many women use prescription hormone drugs for birth control or for reducingsymptoms of menopause . Could thesedrugs jeopardize your heart health?
“Birth control pills can increase your risk of having a blood clot, eitherin the heart or in the legs, and they can also raise your blood pressure.So, if you have a history of high blood pressure or clotting problems,other types of contraception might be a better fit for you,” says Colliver.”But for most young women, it’s safe to take birth control medication.”
Colliver notes that women over the age of 50 are at an increased risk forheart disease and should completely avoid estrogen and progesterone drugs,if possible. “If your overall risk of heart attack is extremely low and youdesperately need relief from hot flashes and other postmenopausal symptoms,then hormone replacement therapy may be fine for you,” says Colliver. “Butafter the age of 65, we really try to avoid using them at all because theydo increase the risk of heart disease and potentially breast cancer.”
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What Does Life Look Like After A Heart Attack
A heart attack should be treated like a life-changing experience, Dr. Reed says, and taking an active role in your health can help aid your recovery.
According to the American Heart Association, 1 in 5 people who has a heart attack is readmitted to the hospital for a second one within five years. But with proper self-care and a focus on your health, you can lower your risk of recurrence.
Following a heart-healthy diet and lifestyle, taking your medications as prescribed, stopping tobacco use, and participating in cardiac rehabilitation can maximize your chances for recovery after a heart attack, he says.
Reduces High Blood Pressure
Exercise is the perfect alternative to medicines in controlling high blood pressure. Hypertension or high blood pressure increases with age. It becomes important to indulge in some form of physical activity to control it.
Not only exercising but regular exercising is the key to reducing high BP. If you have moderate blood pressure, exercise can keep it that way. But you have high blood pressure, physical fitness can lower it for heart attack prevention.
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How Is A Silent Heart Attack Treated
Unfortunately, many people dont even realize theyre having a silent heart attack because theyre not having obvious symptoms. But a heart attack of any kind is an emergency. You should call 911 right away even if you dont know for sure that youre having a heart attack.
A 911 operator can tell you if you should take an aspirin. Paramedics can give you medication while youre in the ambulance.
At the hospital, your healthcare provider will:
- Monitor your heart.
- Give you oxygen.
- Give you medicine for pain and to break up or prevent blood clots.
As soon as possible, your provider may do a coronary angioplasty to open a blood vessel that got too narrow or clogged. A stent can be put inside the blood vessel to keep it open so blood can flow through. In some cases, you may need a coronary artery bypass graft to create a way for blood to go around the clogged area.
How To Prevent Your Own Heart Attack
Here’s some news to make your heart sing: Cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack, are completely preventable for at least 95% of people just by changing diet and lifestyle, according to a study published in the medical journal, the Lancet. And not only preventable, but usually reversible simply by applying these changes.
This is exciting, because it means that your heart health is in your own hands! Everything you eat, drink and do is either contributing to heart disease or heart health.
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What Is A Dog Heart Attack
A dog heart attack, also known as a myocardial infarction, is a condition that occurs when the animal’s blood is unable to reach the muscles of their heart. Most often, it’s caused by the blood flow being restricted, or blocked, from the hearts muscular wall. The blockage can be caused by the formation of a blood clot within the blood vessels of the heart.
When a dog’s heart is deprived of blood, it’s not able to receive the necessary oxygen or nutrients. As a result, the heart muscle begins to die. This affects how effectively the dogs heart can pump and move the blood throughout their body. Heart attacks in dogs are not common but they can happen to any canine of any breed or gender .
Dog heart attacks do not usually remain undetected, but the timing of when it is noticed depends on how familiar an owner is with symptoms and signs. It is common for owners to be hesitant in identifying symptoms as it is not a frequent occurrence in dogs. Luckily, for anyone wanting to know how to prevent a dog heart attack, this condition can be predicted by recognizing the problem behaviors and developing symptoms over a small period of time .
How To Prevent A Heart Attack
Managing your heart disease risk factors and making healthy lifestyle choices can help you prevent a heart attack.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. About 630,000 deaths each year stem from heart-related causes, including those from heart attack and stroke.
The economic burden of heart disease is also enormous, totaling about $200 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Many of these deaths could be prevented and the healthcare costs reduced through medication and changes in health habits, the CDC notes.
Reducing major risks for heart disease can help prevent future heart attacks.
Key modifiable risk factors include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and being overweight or obese.
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Stay In Close Touch With Your Doctor
When youre recovering from a heart attack, its important that you follow your healthcare providers instructions and not skip any appointments. Your doctor will monitor your progress to determine how often you need to return to the office.
After finishing cardiac rehab, most people are seen by their cardiologist every three months for the first year, and then every six months, and then eventually youll get down to once a year, Dr. Cho says.
Here’s How These Changes Stack Up:
- 36 percent risk reduction attributed to not smoking.
- 18 percent reduction for eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, reduced-fat dairy products, whole grains and fish.
- 12 percent reduction for maintaining a waistline of 37 inches or less .
- 11 percent reduction for drinking fewer than two alcoholic drinks per day.
- 3 percent reduction for moderate daily and weekly exercise routines.
- 1 percent the percentage of study participants who exhibited all five of the healthy habits.
Why dont more people follow all five of these lifestyle choices? It can be overwhelming if people feel they need to make all of these changes at once, said Dr. Sweitzer. Everyone could look at where they can make the biggest impact on their risk reduction and start with one small change. The biggest potential impact, if you smoke, stop!
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Tips To Fit Exercise In A Busy Schedule
You must be caught up with business meetings, or your boss would be on your nerves about future agendas. We understand how a busy schedule can be a problem. But you should not compromise your health and lead a sedentary lifestyle because you are busy.
We have some easy ways to help you. Practice the following tips and exercise to prevent heart attack:
- Walk while talking on the phone: Replace text messages with phone calls and walk while talking.
- Use the stairs: Your office is on the 4th floor, its okay. Take the stairs twice a day and ditch the elevator.
- Work out during breaks: First, eat your lunch. Then take a walk at a nearby park or roam in the office building only.
- Wake up early: It would take you only a few days to get into the habit. Set your alarm early and make time for some physical activity.
- Stand more, sit less: We suggest you take breaks from sitting at work. If you cannot leave your desk to take a walk, just stand and work.
- Park your car a little farther: Intentionally, park your vehicle at the very end. This will allow you to walk a little more.