Heart attacks

[MSmith]

Here are 4 steps you can take to help protect yourself a bit from a heart attack.
1. If you smoke, stop.
2. Exercise on a regular basis.
3. Keep your stress in check.
4. Check your blood pressure and know the numbers.

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by MSmith

Here are 4 steps you can take to help protect yourself a bit from a heart attack.
1. If you smoke, stop.
2. Exercise on a regular basis.
3. Keep your stress in check.
4. Check your blood pressure and know the numbers.

Hubby:

1. If you smoke, stop. Check
2. Exercise on a regular basis. Check
3. Keep your stress in check. Check
4. Check your blood pressure and know the numbers. Check (absolutely fine every time, bang on the numbers, until the VERY last check was done...bam, too late).

He still suffered a heart attack; things just are not as simple as they are made out to be and there's a lot more to heart attacks and other conditions than simply adhering to principles which we are encouraged to believe will help prevent some disease when they won't.

I know people who smoke heavily, do no exercise, have no clue as to their blood pressure, lead stressful lives and still live to a ripe old age with no major medical issues. Go figure!

Of course, it doesn't do any harm to try and stay healthy but it's never a guarantee nor is it necessarily preventative.

[Hazzard]

[Transformed]

Originally Posted by 5kgLifter

Hubby:

1. If you smoke, stop. Check
2. Exercise on a regular basis. Check
3. Keep your stress in check. Check
4. Check your blood pressure and know the numbers. Check (absolutely fine every time, bang on the numbers, until the VERY last check was done...bam, too late).

He still suffered a heart attack; things just are not as simple as they are made out to be and there's a lot more to heart attacks and other conditions than simply adhering to principles which we are encouraged to believe will help prevent some disease when they won't.

I know people who smoke heavily, do no exercise, have no clue as to their blood pressure, lead stressful lives and still live to a ripe old age with no major medical issues. Go figure!

Of course, it doesn't do any harm to try and stay healthy but it's never a guarantee nor is it necessarily preventative.

I hear you. My dad was super healthy and had a heart attack. Never smoked or drank and checked on bp all the time. His brother drinks all the time, smokes like a chimney, and does not care about his health. And yet he has no problems at all.

[ffemtny]

And most importantly if your having symptoms of an MI, chest pain/ pressure esp. with radiation, nausea and vomitting, sweating, shortness of breath etc. don't delay in getting eval. Call 911, take Asprin 324mg chewable if not allergic, enjoy the ride and be prepared to be the center of attention for a bit. I say this not only as a Nurse/EMT-CC, and Paramedic student, but as someone who has seen his dad almost die because he denied having a heart attack until he collapsed. Have also seen people die in front of me from "indigestion". There is a saying in health care, "time is myocardium". Meaning your the longer you go without treatment , the more damage that is done to your heart. If it is indigestion at least you'll get a script for it and no one will think any less of you for calling an ambulance and going to E.R..

[BendtheBar]

Heart attacks scare me the most. My grandfather died of a heart attack at the age of 47 for no apparent reason. He was a farmer, always moving (exercise), never smoking and eating mostly whole, nutritious foods.

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by ffemtny

And most importantly if your having symptoms of an MI, chest pain/ pressure esp. with radiation, nausea and vomitting, sweating, shortness of breath etc. don't delay in getting eval. Call 911, take Asprin 324mg chewable if not allergic, enjoy the ride and be prepared to be the center of attention for a bit. I say this not only as a Nurse/EMT-CC, and Paramedic student, but as someone who has seen his dad almost die because he denied having a heart attack until he collapsed. Have also seen people die in front of me from "indigestion". There is a saying in health care, "time is myocardium". Meaning your the longer you go without treatment , the more damage that is done to your heart. If it is indigestion at least you'll get a script for it and no one will think any less of you for calling an ambulance and going to E.R..

I wish some doctors would take more note of symptoms; hubby had shortness of breath, pain (chest and arms), felt unwell generally, had a really bad nausea episode without vomiting...and all of it was overlooked by one doctor. The shortness of breath had been going on for weeks. He had a heart attack 3 days before he saw another doctor and thankfully the guy was on the ball and had him admitted immediately, unlike the doctors before him.

One specialist was amazed that he'd survived the heart attack considering his age and health (renal patient etc); but, we put it down to the fact that he had been exercising as regularly as he could before the episode and just maybe that helped a bit.

I've heard stories of people seeing the doctor being told they're fine and then walking out into the carpark, next to the surgery, and having a heart attack. It's just beyond belief that they don't appear to even pick up on the symptoms when many have the exact same symptoms of breathlessness etc.

Then, as you say, there's the other side where people think it's just indigestion and they continue to ignore it for days and then have a heart attack; I know someone that experienced that as well.

[ffemtny]

5kg and others,
Thanks for the props but I just want to add, that indigestion is just one of the explanations people will use to convince themselves they are not having a heart attack, people will also convince themselves it muscle strain, back pain, etc. it can only hurt not to get checked out. I just chose indigestion as that is the denial I have personally experienced a time or two.

[angie828]

I read of a lady once that had a heart attack and did not know it. She was so hot and had pain in her arm but never thought it was a heart attack. They are very scary.

[punishthebody]

I have had chest pains before but luckily never had a heart attack. I make sure to take care of myself the best I can but yet you can never be too sure.