Heart Health

Hard work is the best investment a man can make. Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done, whether you like it or not. What about our heart and its work? Who is going to think about our heart and its functions?

The heart is a complex, highly specialized muscle that contracts approximately 70 times each minute to pump blood to the head, arms, chest, abdomen, and legs. This pumping work requires oxygen, which is carried in the blood by specialized red blood cells.

Three blood vessels, called the coronary arteries, supply the heart with blood and oxygen. Over time, plaques made of cholesterol and other substances can develop in these arteries and partially block the flow of blood. Occasionally the surface of one of these plaques can burst or rupture. When this happens, a blood clot may form on top of the plaque, further blocking blood flow in the artery.

If a blood clot becomes large enough, it can completely block the flow of blood through the coronary artery. This makes the heart muscle ischemic, meaning it is not receiving enough oxygen to survive. Ischemia of the heart muscle can produce chest pains and other related symptoms. If the muscle in the heart is deprived of oxygen for 30 minutes or more, it begins to die. The longer the blockage deprives the heart muscle or blood-borne oxygen, the more heart muscle dies. This complete blockage of a coronary artery leading to death of the heart muscle is called a heart attack.

Some Facts About Heart Disease

More than 3 in 4 Ontario adults have at least one risk factor for heart disease.

Contrary to popular misconceptions, women are equally susceptible to developing heart disease as men.

Signs and Symptoms

Heart attacks are experienced in different ways. The classic description of heart attack pain is an intense ache in the chest, often centered in the left side of the chest.

Instead of pain, some people experience a tightness or pressure in the chest, often describing the sensation as feeling like “an elephant was sitting on” their chest. Other symptoms that can accompany a heart attack include indigestion, nausea, shortness of breath, intense sweating or clamminess.

Because symptoms can vary, it is important to be aware that not everyone experiences the classic severe chest pain of a heart attack; some heart attack victims may experience one or more symptoms. When any or these symptoms persist longer than approximately 30 minutes, one should assume that they are having a heart attack.

About one quarter of all heart attacks occur without producing any identifiable symptoms. These so called “silent” heart attacks may only be discovered incidentally by examination of an electrocardiogram (EKG) or by other heart tests.

How to Protect Your Heart When Experiencing a Heart Attack

If you really think that you are having a heart attack, seek medical attention immediately.

There are two critical reasons to do so.
First, excellent medications and treatments are available that can help dissolve a blood clot and open a blocked coronary artery, restoring normal blood and oxygen to the heart muscle. Less irreparable damage is done to the heart muscle if these therapies are initiated promptly.

Talk to your doctor freely about reducing your risk. While some risk factors, such as a family history of heart disease cannot be prevented, there are others you can control. These include:

Smoking, exposure to second-hand smoke, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity – particularly extra weight around your middle, inactive lifestyle, diabetes, stress, family problems.

Secondly, the heart becomes predisposed to developing irregular heart rhythms during a heart attack. The most serious of these arrhythmias are ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, in which the heart muscle no longer contracts in a regular, coordinated fashion. Instead it quivers in place, becoming incapable of pumping blood to the organs of the body, including the brain. In these cases, brain damage and death can occur within minutes. For this main reason, it is best to call 911 and summon paramedics who can treat these abnormal heart rhythms if they occur.

Heart disease is Canada’s number one killer. Every year 26,000 Ontarians die of heart disease – that’s 35% of deaths in this province.

In fact, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of premature death, illness and disability in Ontario.
All Ontarians Pay the Price: In treatment costs of over $2 billion. In lost productivity of $4.5 billion per year. In lives tragically cut short.

It is good to study or work. But if you are going to neglect your health, you have to pay the very high price for perishable merchandise.

Be awake, I pray you and be prepared before you suffer a heart attack.

Xavior Chelliah