Heart Facts
What is a Heart Attack?
A heart attack is a sudden block of a coronary artery that can cause death to the muscle, but the heart will continue to work. It is sometimes called a Coronary Attack or Myocardial Infarction. It occurs when the blood supply to the heart muscle is completely blocked by the formation of a blood clot in a narrowed coronary artery. The heart muscle supplied by the blocked artery cannot then get enough blood, and the heart muscle starts to die. It is important that a victim seeks medical help at an early stage so that the clot can be dissolved by the administration of clot busting drugs, and therefore limit the amount of muscle damage.
Risk Factors
Although genetics can be a factor in heart disease, most of the things that put us at risk are readily modifiable. For most of us, heart disease can be prevented by lifestyle changes involving diet and exercise.
Smoking
Compared to a non-smoker, you double the risk of having a heart attack if you smoke. If you also have raised high blood pressure and high cholesterol, these three factors increase the chances of you suffering a heart attack by more than 8 times. For information on how to quit smoking go to: http://smokefree.nhs.uk
High Cholesterol
To reduce the risk of developing high cholesterol, eat healthily, undertake regular exercise, and maintain a healthy weight. It is possible to reduce cholesterol by reducing the intake of foods high in cholesterol and fat, especially saturated fat.
Food to avoid or limit:
- Fatty meats.
- Pies and pastries.
- Prawns, shrimp and fish roe
- Fried foods
- Dairy products such as full cream milk, cream, cheese, butter and ice cream.
- Cakes, crisps, biscuits, sweets and chocolate
Healthier foods include:
- Fish, especially oil rich fish such as sardines, salmon, mackerel, pilchards and trout. This type of fish contains Omega-3 fatty acids which are believed to lower LDL cholesterol.
- Poultry (chicken, veal or turkey) without the skin.
- Low-fat dairy products, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, low fat yoghurt and mono- or poly-unsaturated spreads
- Fruit and vegetables (at least 5 portions every day).
- Garlic
- Wholegrain bread
- Cereal
- Baked beans and red kidney beans
- Pasta and rice
Regular exercise can reduce cholesterol. Try brisk walking, swimming or cycling. However, if you’ve not undertaken regular exercise for some time, are over 40, or have any health problems, then start off very gradually and build up slowly.
If these methods fail to lower your cholesterol, your doctor may prescribe medication.
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is another risk factor for developing heart disease, a stroke, and other serious conditions. As a rule, the higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk.
Treatment includes a change in lifestyle - losing weight if you are overweight, regular physical activity, a healthy diet, reducing alcohol intake, stopping smoking, and cutting down on salt and caffeine. Medication is sometimes required to lower blood pressure
Diabetes
There are two types of diabetes. The first occurs in childhood and is called insulin-dependent diabetes. People with this form of diabetes take daily insulin injections.
The more common form of the disease is called adult-onset, non-insulin dependent diabetes. In this case the body makes insulin but is unable to use it. It frequently affects people who are obese, who have a family history, or who have high blood pressure.
Uncontrolled diabetes of either type damages the very small arteries with in the body. Diabetes doubles the risk of coronary heart disease.
Diabetes with obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides can increase the risk of heart disease by a factor of four times
Overweight and obesity
If you are over your target weight, you should seriously consider a programme of physical activity, and also review your eating habits.
Check your ideal weight: http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/healthyweightcalculator.aspx