Cardiovascular Education One of the Keys to Avoiding a Heart Attack
Establishing an up to date, factual, cardiovascular education can certainly help you avoid a potentially deadly heart attack.
In this article we will be walking through the basics of what is a heart attack, along with preventative steps that can increase your chances of living life to its fullest without falling victim to this dangerous killer.
Your cardiovascular education - What is a heart attack and what is the cause? We have all heard the words heart attack, but did you know that a heart attack is generally caused by a near total blockage of one of the coronary arteries that supply the heart with oxygen.
Pretty interesting isn't it that just as we can't live without breathing our heart cannot live without oxygen.
In most cases, the blockage is caused by a blood clot that have formed in an area of one of the coronary arteries which has narrowed due to the accumulation of cholesterol, dead cells, fibrous tissue, and calcium.
While narrowing of the coronary arteries is the most common cause, a spasm in one the arteries is also a possibility.
As the heart fails due to lack of oxygen a chain reaction of events of starts to occur beginning with oxygen being cut off to other parts of the body reliant on oxygen from the heart, producing a massive amount of tissue death in many different parts of the body.
The amount of tissue death will be in proportion to the severity and length of the heart attack.
Having a heart attack is one of the leading causes of sudden death and disability in the United States, and it should be point out that according to the Center for Disease Control nearly half of heart attack victims fail to make it to the hospital before expiring.
Cardiovascular education - Prevention is the key Certainly the grim realization that once a life threatening heart attack is in progress your chances of dying are almost 50 percent is a sobering thought which should make even the most stubborn person stand up and take notice.
According to the American Medical Association heart attack risk factors fall into two categories; those which are manageable and those that are not.
These include advancing age (most heart attack occur after the age of 60), male gender, smoking, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension), inactivity, failure of the heart to get enough oxygen from the blood (angina), and obesity.
Except for age and gender most of the other risk factors can be controlled through lifestyle modification along with medication and supplementation.
Smart measures to avoid a heart attack include saying no to cigarettes, avoiding second hand smoke when possible, eating a low fat diet abundant in fruits and vegetables, consuming adequate amounts of whole grains and soluble fiber foods such as oat meal, effectively managing diabetes and high blood pressure, including physical activity in your daily routine, and losing any extra weight you may have gained.
Additional ideas are stress management, taking a B complex vitamin daily, taking fish oil supplements rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and a natural cholesterol reduction supplement to help keep bad cholesterol and blood fats from accumulating in your arteries.
In conclusion, hopefully this article has put you on the road to a better cardiovascular education, but with medical advances occurring regularly this article should provide you with a starting point, not an ending point for a better cardiovascular education.
In this article we will be walking through the basics of what is a heart attack, along with preventative steps that can increase your chances of living life to its fullest without falling victim to this dangerous killer.
Your cardiovascular education - What is a heart attack and what is the cause? We have all heard the words heart attack, but did you know that a heart attack is generally caused by a near total blockage of one of the coronary arteries that supply the heart with oxygen.
Pretty interesting isn't it that just as we can't live without breathing our heart cannot live without oxygen.
In most cases, the blockage is caused by a blood clot that have formed in an area of one of the coronary arteries which has narrowed due to the accumulation of cholesterol, dead cells, fibrous tissue, and calcium.
While narrowing of the coronary arteries is the most common cause, a spasm in one the arteries is also a possibility.
As the heart fails due to lack of oxygen a chain reaction of events of starts to occur beginning with oxygen being cut off to other parts of the body reliant on oxygen from the heart, producing a massive amount of tissue death in many different parts of the body.
The amount of tissue death will be in proportion to the severity and length of the heart attack.
Having a heart attack is one of the leading causes of sudden death and disability in the United States, and it should be point out that according to the Center for Disease Control nearly half of heart attack victims fail to make it to the hospital before expiring.
Cardiovascular education - Prevention is the key Certainly the grim realization that once a life threatening heart attack is in progress your chances of dying are almost 50 percent is a sobering thought which should make even the most stubborn person stand up and take notice.
According to the American Medical Association heart attack risk factors fall into two categories; those which are manageable and those that are not.
These include advancing age (most heart attack occur after the age of 60), male gender, smoking, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension), inactivity, failure of the heart to get enough oxygen from the blood (angina), and obesity.
Except for age and gender most of the other risk factors can be controlled through lifestyle modification along with medication and supplementation.
Smart measures to avoid a heart attack include saying no to cigarettes, avoiding second hand smoke when possible, eating a low fat diet abundant in fruits and vegetables, consuming adequate amounts of whole grains and soluble fiber foods such as oat meal, effectively managing diabetes and high blood pressure, including physical activity in your daily routine, and losing any extra weight you may have gained.
Additional ideas are stress management, taking a B complex vitamin daily, taking fish oil supplements rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and a natural cholesterol reduction supplement to help keep bad cholesterol and blood fats from accumulating in your arteries.
In conclusion, hopefully this article has put you on the road to a better cardiovascular education, but with medical advances occurring regularly this article should provide you with a starting point, not an ending point for a better cardiovascular education.
