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Life with heart disease

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The start of my Father's heart Disease

It all started in the winter of 1963, our new house was being built and needless to say my parents were anxious to get it done so we could move in before summer. My father visited the new house to see how everything was coming. It was snowing so Dad decided to help out by shoveling the walks in front of the house. After an hour Dad was winded and felt an unfamiliar pain in his chest, it felt like a rope tightening him. The contractor drove Dad to the hospital and this started a 14 year run of life changes and hospital stays.

My Father

My father didn't drink and he didn't smoke, he was thin and he enjoyed walking. So how did he have a bad heart? Heredity and sleep apnea didn't help either.. His father and most of five brothers had heart problems so it was something that they all had. In 1963 heart disease prevention wasn't talked about much. Good and bad cholesterol certainly was unknown. Before his heart attack he didn't watch what he ate but he wasn't a big eater. He was a average person with a bad heart.

Signs of a heart attack

  • chest pain
  • shortness of breath
  • discomfort in other parts of the upper body like your arms or neck
  • nausea, cold sweat

Lifestyle changes, they weren't easy

I know that it was very difficult for my father to make changes to his lifestyle particularly his diet. My mother had to cook 2 different types of meals each day, one for my father and another for the rest of us. I know Dad hated to eat the bland diet that his doctor ordered but he had no choice. In the 70's there wasn't much choice at the grocery store for heart friendly foods.

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Diet for heart patients

It is well known today that there are certain foods that must be avoided if you want to keep your heart healthy. Fats are definitely in that category. Lower your fat intake and use low fat products when cooking. Vegetable and fruits are something that is recommended for everyone's diet especially those with heart problems or those wanting to avoid heart disease. when choosing your protein always choose the low fat type such as lean meat, chicken, and low fat dairy products.
Omega-3 fatty acid found in some fish can lower triglycerides, which are fat in your blood that is used for energy. High triglycerides can cause heart disease.

Healthy Heart Diet

Fun To Know - Healthy Cooking For Healthy Heart

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What are the types of heart disease?

Heart disease can be broken down into many areas.

  • Coronary artery disease occurs when plague builds up in the arteries and slows or stops the flow of blood. As the blood slows down you will see symptoms such as chest pains (angina) and when the blood stops flowing then a heart attack happens.
  • Another heart problem is when the heart doesn't pump blood as well as it should. This can have an adverse effect on other organs in the body. Shortness of breath is a common sign
  • Heart arrhythmias are when the beat of the heart changes this can cause dizziness, shortness of breath and chest pains. This isn't as serious as other heart diseases.
  • Heart valve disease is when there is a problem with one of the four valves that work with the heart. Valve disease can be caused when the valve is too small or when the valve doesn't close correctly.
  • Congenital heart disease is you are born with a defect in the structure of your heart.

Heart disease news

Heart-healthy lifestyle reduces heart disease
ACC's CardioSmart Launches Nation's First Free Cardiovascular Texting Program
Heart Disease: Stem Cells To Toothbrushes
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Good and bad cholesterol

There are two types of cholesterol, good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. Bad cholesterol is known as LDL or low density lipoprotein. Too much of LDL can cause plague to form in the arteries which in turn causes the blood not to circulate this can cause a heart attack. Good cholesterol of HDL, high density lipoprotein is considered good because it supposedly carries away cholesterol away which prevents plague from forming.

Heart Medications

Here are just a few medications that heart patients use

  • Aspirin thins the blood and lessens the size of a blood clot
  • Nitrates help to relieve the chest pains
  • Beta blockers help slow the heart down
  • Cholesterol lowering drugs
  • ACE inhibitor helps the heart pump blood and helps with blood pressure

What is Atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is where there is a fatty deposit forms on the inside of the artery walls. Eventually the arteries may become blocked which causes a heart attack.

The beginning of the end

It was over 9 years after Dad's initial heart attack before he had another. I don't know exactly what brought it on but it happened. Luckily the stay in the hospital wasn't very long, it was only a few days. We had all hoped that it would be another 9 years before the next one but we were wrong. The 3rd and the 4th happened just a few years apart. Dad's doctor sent him to the Cleveland Clinic to be tested. 90 percent blockage, not good news. This was in 1977 so some of the advanced procedures that they do today weren't available back then. Really all Dad could do was wait.

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The last heart attack

In August of 1977 days before I was to go off to college, Dad went with a friend to see one of his brothers that he hadn't seen in years. He had a great time and when he came back he seemed content but very tired. The morning after he returned I awoke to screams of my mother. I ran into their bedroom and Dad was lying on the bed, his eyes staring at the ceiling and he was making a gurgling sound. Mom had tried to give him his nitrate pills but he was incapable of swallowing anything. My sister gave him CPR but it was clear that he was dying. The ambulance arrived shortly and we rushed to the hospital. Dad died that afternoon.

Stents

There is a procedure that helps keep the arteries open. A stent is a small tube that is inserted into the arteries which keeps the blood moving to the heart. Drug-eluting stents have drugs coated over the stents to prevent the artery from reclosing. Stents are commonly used when having angioplasty, which is a procedure to widen blood vessels.
Unfortunately they didn't have stents when my Father was alive.

 

Keep an eye on your blood pressure!

High blood pressure can lead to not only heart disease but also strokes. Referred to as the silent killer because it has no symptoms, high blood pressure is often found in those who are obese, heavy drinkers, middle age and elderly people as well.

Make sure to check your blood pressure often.

Control High Blood Pressure Without Drugs: A Complete Hypertension Handbook

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Be prepared for an attack and don't waste time

I read an article in AARP about the number of google searches there are for the phrase "Am I having a heart attack" This is unbelievable! If you think that you are having a heart attack call 911 don't waste time doing a google search because every second counts.
On the other hand doing research on the signs of having a heart attack is a good thing to do but not in an emergency situation.

American Heart Association

For more information on heart disease and how to prevent them go to the American Heart Association website

My Life Check

from the American Heart Association

Take the My Life Assessment and find out where you and your heart stands. Click Here to get to the home page.

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Heart Disease diet

Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease: The Only System Scientifically Proven to Reverse Heart Disease Without Drugs or Surgery

Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease: The Only System Scientifically Proven to Reverse Heart Disease Without Drugs or Surgery

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davidstillwagon

Hi, I'm David Stillwagon. I live in Atlanta with my wife and son. I blog on health and age issues.
I am originally from Uniontown Pa. I have lived in... more »

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