It’s Valentine’s Day – Protect Your Heart!
Heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are America’s leading causes of death. They affect nearly 81 million Americans and cost us more than any other disease. A few small lifestyle changes, along with early diagnosis and treatment, could dramatically lower your risk. Risk factors include: smoking, being overweight or obese, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and Type 2 Diabetes.
Making lifestyle changes such as these are not easy. Our providers are happy to help you attain your goals by assessing your risk factors and helping to come up with a plan for a healthier you. We can help with smoking cessation, evaluate your ability to participate in an exercise program, and test your cholesterol and blood sugar levels. The American Heart Association offers many helpful tools you may use in making better nutrition choices. They offer help with goal setting, cooking, grocery shopping, and dining out. They also offer information about how to get your kids involved – childhood obesity causes children to develop conditions and diseases usually seen in adults – diseases generally associated with poor nutrition and a lack of physical activity.
While prevention is key, even the healthiest people may succumb to heart disease. If you have any of the following warning signs, do not hesitate to call 911. Calling 911 is the fastest way to get lifesaving treatment. EMTs can begin treatment as soon as they arrive – up to an hour sooner than going to the emergency room by car. Heart attack and stroke are life-and-death emergencies — every second counts. If you see or have any of the listed symptoms, immediately call 9-1-1 or your emergency response number. Not all these signs occur in every heart attack or stroke. Sometimes they go away and return. If some occur, get help fast!
Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
- Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or
both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. - Shortness of breath with or without
chest discomfort. - Other signs may include
breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or
lightheadedness
As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.
Stroke Warning Signs. If you or someone with you has one or more of these signs, don’t delay!
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg,
especially on one side of the body - Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or
coordination - Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
Immediately call 9-1-1 or your emergency response number so an ambulance (ideally with advanced life support) can be sent for you. Also, check the time so you’ll know when the first symptoms appeared. It’s very important to take immediate action. If given within three hours of the start of symptoms, a clot-busting drug may be administered and reduce long-term disability for the most common type of stroke.
A TIA, or transient ischemic attack, is a “warning stroke” or “mini-stroke” that produces stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage. Recognizing and treating TIAs can reduce your risk of a major stroke. The usual TIA symptoms are the same as those of stroke, only temporary. The short duration of these symptoms and lack of permanent brain injury is the main difference between TIA and stroke.
Cardiac arrest strikes immediately and without warning. Here are the signs:
- Sudden loss of responsiveness (no response to tapping
on shoulders). - No normal breathing (the victim does not take a normal
breath when you tilt the head up and check for at least five
seconds).
If these signs of cardiac arrest are present, tell someone to call 9-1-1 or your emergency response number, get a defibrillator (if one is available) and you begin CPR immediately.
If you are alone with an adult who has these signs of cardiac arrest, call 9-1-1 and get a defibrillator (if one is available) before you begin CPR.
Use an AED as soon as it arrives.
Source: www.americanheart.org
