If you are having a heart attack, time is of the essence.  That is why it is so important to recognize the heart attack symptoms as soon as possible so that you can get emergency assistance quickly.  There are times when it is obvious that someone is having a heart attack, because the pain comes on so quickly and so strongly.  However, in a lot of instances, it is less obvious that you may be having one.  This is because the pain may be slight or just uncomfortable, and doesn’t come on quickly. Read more »

Before we can really understand what can go wrong with our hearts and our cardiovascular systems, we first need to understand what a healthy, functioning heart does. Read more »

As mentioned in previous posts, heart disease refers to a number of conditions or diseases that can affect the heart and its circulatory system.  In some cases, some people’s hearts become infected by bacteria or viruses and this causes heart disease.  For some others, they have problems with the internal structures of the heart (ex. the valves), and this can lead to heart disease.  But for a lot of us, heart disease is caused by our lifestyles.  What follows are some heart disease causes related to our everyday lifestyles and things that we can control: Read more »

Heart disease is a very broad term covering a number of different types of heart conditions or diseases.  It can affect the heart or its circulatory system.   It is also the leading cause of death in Canada, the U.S., and England.  In the article, we will discuss different types of heart disease.  Although some forms of heart disease fall into more than one category listed below, I have tried to separate them into a few, easy-to-understand categories.  Read more »

Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure.  So Hypertensive Heart Disease is heart disease that occurs due to high blood pressure that occurs when it has been uncontrolled or has been too high for a long time. Read more »

Having high cholesterol is reported to increase your risk of heart disease.  In particular, your risk of having a heart attack or stroke increases if your cholesterol is not kept in check. Read more »

Heart disease risk increases with the more risk factors you have. You may recall from a previous post, that there are controllable and uncontrollable risk factors. Read more »

Heart disease is something that we hear about all the time. Most of us know someone who has been afflicted with heart disease, and we know the deadly consequences.  Read more »

Cardiovascular disease is another word for heart disease.  They mean the same thing, and they include disorders or diseases of the heart and/or blood vessels within the body.  Read more »

In the 1970’s, a number of studies and trials, demonstrated that aspirin (ASA – acetylsalicylic acid) was beneficial for decreasing the risk of having a heart attack.  Further studies have demonstrated that taking aspirin also decreased the chances of having another heart attack or stroke related to clotting.  The reason for this is because aspirin acts as a blood thinner, thus decreasing clotting within your blood vessels and also decreasing the narrowing of your blood vessels due to atherosclerosis. Read more »

Coronary Artery Disease is one type of heart disease.  Angina (temporary chest pain) and heart attacks (acute myocardial infarctions) are types of coronary artery disease. Read more »

Heart angina is a form of coronary artery disease.  It occurs as the result of atherosclerotic coronary (heart) arteries.  The coronary arteries are the arteries that are located on the surface of your heart, and provide your heart muscle with oxygen and nutrients. Read more »

Heart attack, in the medical community, is known as a myocardial infarction (MI).  It occurs because one or more of the coronary arteries, that provide blood supply and oxygen to the heart muscle, are completely blocked off.  As a result, blood cannot get through the artery and part of the heart muscle does not get oxygen.  This can result in death of the heart muscle. Read more »

Ischemic heart disease seems like a mouthful, but if you break down the words, it makes sense. The definition of  ischemia is temporary lack of blood supply and oxygen to a body part due to obstruction. When it is the heart that is not getting adequate blood and oxygen supply, it is called ischemic heart disease. Read more »

It is interesting to note that high blood cholesterol is considered one of the risk factors of heart disease that you can control. Yet, some of the causes of high cholesterol are not under your control while some are. Read more »

As we already know, men and women are very different.  It’s the same when it comes to heart disease.  In particular, what I want to talk to you about today is how a woman’s chances of developing heart disease is less before menopause.  That is why it can seem like more men have heart disease than women.  Read more »

It is important to recognize the differences between heart attacks and angina episodes.  However, if you are not sure, do not hesitate in seeking medical help immediately. Read more »

If blood tests confirm that you have high cholesterol, then you will undergo high cholesterol treatment.  Read more »

Your heart & hypertension are related.  Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure.  It is a serious condition that can result in damage to your heart, kidneys, and eyes over time or if left untreated.  It can also be responsible for heart attacks and strokes in people, therefore it is important to have your blood pressure checked regularly to ensure that it is within a normal range.  Read more »

In another post, I discussed the causes of heart disease that are under your control.  In this post, I want to give you the risk factors of heart disease that are not under your control. These are risk factors that we are born with and cannot change.  However, just because you have risk factors that you cannot control, does not mean that you want to ignore the factors that you can control.  Here is a list of the risk factors that you can’t change: Read more »

In helping you to determine your heart attack risk, answer the following questions.  If you answer “yes” to one of them, your risk of heart attack is higher than the rest of the population.  The more questions you answer “yes” to, the higher your risk becomes.  Read more »

I have to admit that although I know that women can have heart attacks, you often only think of men having heart attacks.  It is important to note that women can have heart attacks too.  Read more »