Reversing heart disease can be done by adopting a few lifestyle changes. By avoiding certain risk factors that put you in harm’s way of the disease to begin with, you can turn back the clock, so to speak, and continue to live a long, healthy life despite having a heart disease.
There are many different kinds of heart disease, but one of the factors that leads to most heart disease is a blockage to the arteries that feed blood to the heart. When the heart no longer gets a fresh supply of blood, it can die, and the result is a heart attack. By unclogging these arteries, you are essentially reversing heart disease and, therefore, healing your heart.
How You Can Reverse Heart Disease
Diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol can contribute to the blockage that causes most diseases of the heart. Reversing heart disease can be as simple as cleaning up your diet, by eating more fruits and vegetables, foods with a higher fiber content, and staying away from foods with too much saturated fat. By changing to a cleaner diet, you are one step closer to reversing a heart disease that has already claimed so many lives.
Another technique that works in reversing heart disease is getting more exercise. When you exercise, you increase your cardiovascular health, and your heart begins to work better. Exercise can be had anywhere, anytime, simply walk instead of drive your car, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or just walk around the block every night after dinner.
A more drastic move for reversing heart disease is surgery. Surgeons have been able to unblock arteries or bypass clogged arteries to improve blood flow to the heart. In many cases, surgery helps those who are afflicted with this horrible disease; however, for surgery to be effective, the heart disease must be caught early, just like most other diseases. Surgery can be an effective means for reversing heart disease, but the most effective way is to adopt good living habits once you find out you have it.
By adopting good living habits, eating right, getting more exercise, and reducing stress levels, you can go on to live a long, healthy, productive life even if you already have heart disease. Reversing heart disease does not need to inhibit your life or hold you back in any way; instead, by adopting good living habits, you can improve your life by turning back time to look and feel better.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Women Suffer More By Heart Disease
To understand the seriousness of heart disease in women, we need to first look at the facts. According to recent studies, it’s found that more than 8 million American women are currently living with some form of heart disease. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death of
American women and more women than men die of heart disease each year.
Heart disease in women can be diagnosed and treated but the key to staying healthy is prevention. Once a woman finds out that she has heart disease, it may already be too late. Chances are, that woman has engaged in several risk factors throughout her lifetime that contributed to her contracting the disease. Such risk factors that increase the risk of heart disease in women include cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, not being active, diabetes and obesity.
Women need to understand that these risk factors need to be avoided as much as possible because they are so susceptible to the disease. Heart disease in women doesn’t need to be as much of an epidemic it has become. With just a few lifestyle changes, all women can once more live long and healthy lives without the risk for heart disease.
Of course, there are other risk factors that increase the risk for heart disease in women that can’t be helped. These risk factors include age, heredity, the effects of menopause, etc. By knowing this, women should arm themselves with as much information as they can so that they can know just what they are dealing with.
Heart disease in women doesn’t need to have such a high morality rate.
By adopting a few lifestyle changes such as getting more exercise, eating right, quitting smoking and reducing stress levels, women can drastically reduce the propensity for heart disease. This is important not only for heart disease but for other diseases as well.
Heart disease in women does claim many lives each and every year but the disease can be manageable and preventable. Women need to study and learn as much as they can. They need to be educated. Not many women know that they have such a high probability of getting the disease. All women need to know that they have a greater risk of getting the disease than men.
By understanding and knowing this, women will have a step up on this horrible disease and, maybe one day, heart disease in women will be a thing of the past.
American women and more women than men die of heart disease each year.
Heart disease in women can be diagnosed and treated but the key to staying healthy is prevention. Once a woman finds out that she has heart disease, it may already be too late. Chances are, that woman has engaged in several risk factors throughout her lifetime that contributed to her contracting the disease. Such risk factors that increase the risk of heart disease in women include cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, not being active, diabetes and obesity.
Women need to understand that these risk factors need to be avoided as much as possible because they are so susceptible to the disease. Heart disease in women doesn’t need to be as much of an epidemic it has become. With just a few lifestyle changes, all women can once more live long and healthy lives without the risk for heart disease.
Of course, there are other risk factors that increase the risk for heart disease in women that can’t be helped. These risk factors include age, heredity, the effects of menopause, etc. By knowing this, women should arm themselves with as much information as they can so that they can know just what they are dealing with.
Heart disease in women doesn’t need to have such a high morality rate.
By adopting a few lifestyle changes such as getting more exercise, eating right, quitting smoking and reducing stress levels, women can drastically reduce the propensity for heart disease. This is important not only for heart disease but for other diseases as well.
Heart disease in women does claim many lives each and every year but the disease can be manageable and preventable. Women need to study and learn as much as they can. They need to be educated. Not many women know that they have such a high probability of getting the disease. All women need to know that they have a greater risk of getting the disease than men.
By understanding and knowing this, women will have a step up on this horrible disease and, maybe one day, heart disease in women will be a thing of the past.
Friday, September 28, 2007
About Heart Disease Risk Factor
A heart disease risk factor is a habit a person follows that makes them more susceptible to this horrible disease. It’s said that more than 58 million Americans suffer from some kind of heart disease, and it is the number one killer of American adults. Heart disease kills more women than the other five top killers combined. For this reason, it’s important to know what we can about this killer so that we may stop it from hurting any more people.
Examples of a heart disease risk factor include smoking, eating foods high in fat, and not getting enough exercise. Risk factors harm your heart, your overall health, and essentially, kill you slowly. A heart disease risk factor must be avoided if we hope to avoid this horrible disease.
Why Should You Know About Risk Factors?
Heart disease risk factors are important to study so that you can avoid the types of behaviors that bring on this disease. By adopting certain lifestyle changes, we can stay away from the heart disease risk factor that is harming you minute by minute, without you even knowing about more than likely.
Also, it’s important to note that a certain factor may be a heart disease risk factor and most people aren’t even aware of it. Not many know that there are certain factors that can’t be helped. An example of this type of heart disease risk factor includes age; you can’t help how old you are.
Similarly, you can’t help what family you come from either. That’s right, heart disease can be genetic and could come from your father, your mother, or your grandmother. That means that heredity can also be a heart disease risk factor. These risk factors are important to understand so that we can track this disease and stop it with more scientific research. Research will lead to more medicines and procedures that will help in stopping this disease.
Just because there are risk factors that can’t be helped doesn’t mean we should just give up. Curb the risk factors that you can control such as the smoking, the over eating, and the lack of exercise, and let’s help stop this disease from spreading.
Heart disease is a disease that can, for the most part, be prevented. It’s important to study the heart disease risk factor that plagues you the most. What are you doing that could be hurting you? Try to limit the habit or cut it out completely, and your heart will thank you for it.
Examples of a heart disease risk factor include smoking, eating foods high in fat, and not getting enough exercise. Risk factors harm your heart, your overall health, and essentially, kill you slowly. A heart disease risk factor must be avoided if we hope to avoid this horrible disease.
Why Should You Know About Risk Factors?
Heart disease risk factors are important to study so that you can avoid the types of behaviors that bring on this disease. By adopting certain lifestyle changes, we can stay away from the heart disease risk factor that is harming you minute by minute, without you even knowing about more than likely.
Also, it’s important to note that a certain factor may be a heart disease risk factor and most people aren’t even aware of it. Not many know that there are certain factors that can’t be helped. An example of this type of heart disease risk factor includes age; you can’t help how old you are.
Similarly, you can’t help what family you come from either. That’s right, heart disease can be genetic and could come from your father, your mother, or your grandmother. That means that heredity can also be a heart disease risk factor. These risk factors are important to understand so that we can track this disease and stop it with more scientific research. Research will lead to more medicines and procedures that will help in stopping this disease.
Just because there are risk factors that can’t be helped doesn’t mean we should just give up. Curb the risk factors that you can control such as the smoking, the over eating, and the lack of exercise, and let’s help stop this disease from spreading.
Heart disease is a disease that can, for the most part, be prevented. It’s important to study the heart disease risk factor that plagues you the most. What are you doing that could be hurting you? Try to limit the habit or cut it out completely, and your heart will thank you for it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Information on Heart Disease: Learning is the Key
Heart disease is the number one killer in America. It’s estimated that more than 58 million Americans have some form of heart disease. The key to stopping such as a problematic illness like heart disease is to find out as much as we can about it and, more importantly, how to prevent it.
Information on heart disease is not hard to find; in fact, your doctor probably has several good reads on the subject in his office. If you don’t have a doctor, then just open your local newspaper. With such important status, you would be hard pressed not to find an article or other piece of information on heart disease from your local health center or hospital. Also, search the web where all the information on heart disease that you want is only a few keystrokes.
What to Look For
The information you’ll want to research are things such as: risk factors, prevention, the latest scientific research, symptoms, and treatments. This vital information on heart disease is important to understanding it. By learning as much as we can about heart disease, we can hopefully prevent it and all go on to live long, healthy, productive lives.
By looking at such information on heart disease, we learn that certain risk factors that can cause it. These risk factors include: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. More personal risk factors include: being overweight, smoking, a lack of physical exercise, and stress. By learning what behaviors attract heart disease, we can find out just which habits we might want to avoid.
Why You Should be Informed
Prevention is the best way to avoid ever having to deal with the disease. Through information on heart disease, we can adopt certain lifestyle changes, avoid getting heart disease, and possibly stop this problem from spreading any further.
By reading about the latest research, symptoms, and treatments, we can keep abreast of the latest findings regarding this killer disease. More importantly, we can educate others about this horrible disease, others who may be seeking information on heart disease just like you.
It’s important that we seek out information on heart disease to learn as much as we can about it so we can stop it in its tracks. Only by learning about it and applying what we’ve learned, can we stop this disease. The more information we have, the more ammunition we have to defeat this killer of so many Americans.
Information on heart disease is not hard to find; in fact, your doctor probably has several good reads on the subject in his office. If you don’t have a doctor, then just open your local newspaper. With such important status, you would be hard pressed not to find an article or other piece of information on heart disease from your local health center or hospital. Also, search the web where all the information on heart disease that you want is only a few keystrokes.
What to Look For
The information you’ll want to research are things such as: risk factors, prevention, the latest scientific research, symptoms, and treatments. This vital information on heart disease is important to understanding it. By learning as much as we can about heart disease, we can hopefully prevent it and all go on to live long, healthy, productive lives.
By looking at such information on heart disease, we learn that certain risk factors that can cause it. These risk factors include: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. More personal risk factors include: being overweight, smoking, a lack of physical exercise, and stress. By learning what behaviors attract heart disease, we can find out just which habits we might want to avoid.
Why You Should be Informed
Prevention is the best way to avoid ever having to deal with the disease. Through information on heart disease, we can adopt certain lifestyle changes, avoid getting heart disease, and possibly stop this problem from spreading any further.
By reading about the latest research, symptoms, and treatments, we can keep abreast of the latest findings regarding this killer disease. More importantly, we can educate others about this horrible disease, others who may be seeking information on heart disease just like you.
It’s important that we seek out information on heart disease to learn as much as we can about it so we can stop it in its tracks. Only by learning about it and applying what we’ve learned, can we stop this disease. The more information we have, the more ammunition we have to defeat this killer of so many Americans.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Heart Disease Prevention: Keeping Healthy
Heart disease prevention is not difficult. In fact, it can be easy with just a few lifestyle changes to prevent the number one cause of death among women. It is said that over 58 million Americans suffer from some form of heart disease, so it would seem natural that heart disease prevention should be a part of our everyday vocabularies.
The number one key to heart disease prevention is adopting better living habits. Simple changes like eating better, getting more exercise, and being more health conscious in general have shown that they can drastically reduce your chances of acquiring heart disease.
Control Your Eating Habits
For optimal heart disease prevention, it’s necessary to improve your eating habits. First, avoid foods high in saturated fat and trans fatty acids. Saturated fats are naturally found in food that comes from animals: meat, eggs, dairy products, as well as some oils. Trans fatty acids are usually found in commercially baked or fried foods. By lowering the amount of these fats from your diet, you will ensure your heart’s health.
Second, eats lots of fruits and vegetables and make sure you take in more fiber. It’s also a good idea to take a multi-vitamin; not only will a multi-vitamin assist you in your heart disease prevention, it will help prevent other diseases as well such as cancer or Alzheimer’s.
Work Out for Your Health
Getting more exercise is another habit necessary for heart disease prevention. Many don’t realize that getting more exercise doesn’t need to include the gym or exhausting aerobic sessions. It can be done at work, home, school, or anywhere else, really. If you can, walk instead of drive, park further away from your destination, or just take the stairs instead of the elevator. When you’re at the store, make an extra trip around the aisles, just to make sure you picked up everything on your list. Wherever you are, stay conscious of the amount of exercise you get daily, and not only will you improve your overall health, but you’ll look and feel better than ever.
Keeping Healthy
More positive habits include: stopping smoking, reducing or eliminating alcoholic drinks, and reducing stress. While that last one might not seem so easy, it can be with the many tricks to stress relief. Merely counting to ten or taking several deep breaths can often calm you down and make you feel more under control in even the most stressful of situations. By keeping your stress managed and eliminating foreign chemicals from your body, you will live longer, healthier, and, ultimately, happier.
Heart disease prevention is not difficult and can be done with a few minor lifestyle changes that will improve your health and make you feel better. Once you’ve adopted these great lifestyle habits, you’ll want to tell your friends and family all about them. After all, when you’re living a long and happy life, you’re going to want someone around to share it with you. By sharing these tips with those you love, you’re showing the ultimate love of all – you’re showing them heart disease prevention and saving their life.
The number one key to heart disease prevention is adopting better living habits. Simple changes like eating better, getting more exercise, and being more health conscious in general have shown that they can drastically reduce your chances of acquiring heart disease.
Control Your Eating Habits
For optimal heart disease prevention, it’s necessary to improve your eating habits. First, avoid foods high in saturated fat and trans fatty acids. Saturated fats are naturally found in food that comes from animals: meat, eggs, dairy products, as well as some oils. Trans fatty acids are usually found in commercially baked or fried foods. By lowering the amount of these fats from your diet, you will ensure your heart’s health.
Second, eats lots of fruits and vegetables and make sure you take in more fiber. It’s also a good idea to take a multi-vitamin; not only will a multi-vitamin assist you in your heart disease prevention, it will help prevent other diseases as well such as cancer or Alzheimer’s.
Work Out for Your Health
Getting more exercise is another habit necessary for heart disease prevention. Many don’t realize that getting more exercise doesn’t need to include the gym or exhausting aerobic sessions. It can be done at work, home, school, or anywhere else, really. If you can, walk instead of drive, park further away from your destination, or just take the stairs instead of the elevator. When you’re at the store, make an extra trip around the aisles, just to make sure you picked up everything on your list. Wherever you are, stay conscious of the amount of exercise you get daily, and not only will you improve your overall health, but you’ll look and feel better than ever.
Keeping Healthy
More positive habits include: stopping smoking, reducing or eliminating alcoholic drinks, and reducing stress. While that last one might not seem so easy, it can be with the many tricks to stress relief. Merely counting to ten or taking several deep breaths can often calm you down and make you feel more under control in even the most stressful of situations. By keeping your stress managed and eliminating foreign chemicals from your body, you will live longer, healthier, and, ultimately, happier.
Heart disease prevention is not difficult and can be done with a few minor lifestyle changes that will improve your health and make you feel better. Once you’ve adopted these great lifestyle habits, you’ll want to tell your friends and family all about them. After all, when you’re living a long and happy life, you’re going to want someone around to share it with you. By sharing these tips with those you love, you’re showing the ultimate love of all – you’re showing them heart disease prevention and saving their life.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Western World and Ischemic Heart Disease
Ischemic heart disease is the proper medical term for reduced blood flow to the heart – it is ultimately caused by hardened or blocked arteries, and it is the number one cause of death in most western countries.
From the time people are very young, as young as five years old, they can start developing tissue deposits, called plaque, in the lining of their arteries. For many people, these deposits never cause trouble. For others, the deposits can grow, harden, and eventually cause death. The growth of these tissues is called arteriosclerosis.
As these tissues grow, the arteries will enlarge some to try and accommodate blood flow. However, if the blob of plaque ruptures, the particles clog blood passages causing a heart attack or stroke, in the worst cases.
Please, Pass On The Fats
Scientists know what causes ischemic heart disease: a fatty diet, inaction, and smoking. While smoking is certainly not limited to rich countries, a fatty diet and inaction are luxuries of middle- and upper-class populations.
In Europe and the United States, calories are cheap and plentiful. For an hour’s wage, a person can buy a meal containing a pound of meat. However, in some countries, a pound of meat is a treat to be divided within one family once a month. No doctor recommends either extreme of poor or rich food, but rather, everyone needs a healthy, balanced, but lean diet to prevent ischemic heart disease.
However, some doctors have an idea about using peer pressure to make westerners make themselves healthier. Thirty years ago, few Americans wore seatbelts. And many more smoked cigarettes than do now. Laws played a part in changing behavior, but in both of these cases, peer pressure really started the trend. And many scientists, nutritionists, and activists, worried about ischemic heart disease, are trying to repeat the trend for healthier diets.
And this power of healthy suggestion seems to be working on restaurants. Especially since 2004, fast food chains have started to offer healthier menu choices such as yogurt, salads, and fruit. Many restaurants now print some nutrition information on their menus and offer specifically “heart-smart” recipes.
But the question is will people take advantage of healthier menus, city recreation departments, and fresh vegetables at the grocery store? So far, it does not seem so. Some scientists predict that 75% of all Americans will be overweight by 2008. Yet extra weight and the bad diet and inactivity that usually accompany it are causing an epidemic of ischemic heart disease.
From the time people are very young, as young as five years old, they can start developing tissue deposits, called plaque, in the lining of their arteries. For many people, these deposits never cause trouble. For others, the deposits can grow, harden, and eventually cause death. The growth of these tissues is called arteriosclerosis.
As these tissues grow, the arteries will enlarge some to try and accommodate blood flow. However, if the blob of plaque ruptures, the particles clog blood passages causing a heart attack or stroke, in the worst cases.
Please, Pass On The Fats
Scientists know what causes ischemic heart disease: a fatty diet, inaction, and smoking. While smoking is certainly not limited to rich countries, a fatty diet and inaction are luxuries of middle- and upper-class populations.
In Europe and the United States, calories are cheap and plentiful. For an hour’s wage, a person can buy a meal containing a pound of meat. However, in some countries, a pound of meat is a treat to be divided within one family once a month. No doctor recommends either extreme of poor or rich food, but rather, everyone needs a healthy, balanced, but lean diet to prevent ischemic heart disease.
However, some doctors have an idea about using peer pressure to make westerners make themselves healthier. Thirty years ago, few Americans wore seatbelts. And many more smoked cigarettes than do now. Laws played a part in changing behavior, but in both of these cases, peer pressure really started the trend. And many scientists, nutritionists, and activists, worried about ischemic heart disease, are trying to repeat the trend for healthier diets.
And this power of healthy suggestion seems to be working on restaurants. Especially since 2004, fast food chains have started to offer healthier menu choices such as yogurt, salads, and fruit. Many restaurants now print some nutrition information on their menus and offer specifically “heart-smart” recipes.
But the question is will people take advantage of healthier menus, city recreation departments, and fresh vegetables at the grocery store? So far, it does not seem so. Some scientists predict that 75% of all Americans will be overweight by 2008. Yet extra weight and the bad diet and inactivity that usually accompany it are causing an epidemic of ischemic heart disease.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
About The Cause of Heart Disease
If your mother and your father had heart disease, and their parents before them, you may feel doomed to heart failure. While it is true that heredity is a cause of heart disease, it is only a factor among many others. One recent study even says heredity accounts for less than 10% of a person’s risk of developing heart disease.
So, What is the Other 90%?
Doctors do not agree on the number one cause of heart disease, but smoking, obesity, and high cholesterol are the frontrunners in any study.
The chemicals in cigarettes damage artery walls, making it easier for cholesterol deposits to build an unhealthy, blood-blocking home in the body. Smoking also makes platelets, the component of blood that causes clotting, to be more active, and hence the risk of a killer clot rises.
A body needs cholesterol and can actually produce all it needs, so when we ingest foods high in cholesterols, like dairy and meat products, our bodies get a lot more cholesterol than they need. The body saves cholesterol instead of excreting it, and that cholesterol gets stored along the walls of the arteries. Too many cholesterol deposits lead to artery blockage and clots.
High blood pressure is also a major cause of heart disease. Imagine this, your arteries are narrowed because of all that cholesterol stored in there, yet your body is the same size and needs the same amount of blood; so your heart is trying to pump a lot of blood through a passage that is getting too small. Just as the motor of an air conditioner can get worn out trying to push air through a filter that no one has cleaned, your heart can overtax itself trying to force blood through blocked passages.
Obesity, not just because of all the health problems that come with it, is another cause of heart disease. Often obesity comes with high cholesterol and blood pressure, which we know increase the risk of heart disease, but new studies are also showing a correlation between abdominal fat and heart disease in a way that is not yet fully understood. Either way, as the circumference of stomach increases, the risk of heart disease seems to increase more.
Also, stress causes an overall decline in health and is particularly associated with heart disease. So, unless your parents are stressing you out enough to cause a heart attack, they are not the cause of heart disease.
So, What is the Other 90%?
Doctors do not agree on the number one cause of heart disease, but smoking, obesity, and high cholesterol are the frontrunners in any study.
The chemicals in cigarettes damage artery walls, making it easier for cholesterol deposits to build an unhealthy, blood-blocking home in the body. Smoking also makes platelets, the component of blood that causes clotting, to be more active, and hence the risk of a killer clot rises.
A body needs cholesterol and can actually produce all it needs, so when we ingest foods high in cholesterols, like dairy and meat products, our bodies get a lot more cholesterol than they need. The body saves cholesterol instead of excreting it, and that cholesterol gets stored along the walls of the arteries. Too many cholesterol deposits lead to artery blockage and clots.
High blood pressure is also a major cause of heart disease. Imagine this, your arteries are narrowed because of all that cholesterol stored in there, yet your body is the same size and needs the same amount of blood; so your heart is trying to pump a lot of blood through a passage that is getting too small. Just as the motor of an air conditioner can get worn out trying to push air through a filter that no one has cleaned, your heart can overtax itself trying to force blood through blocked passages.
Obesity, not just because of all the health problems that come with it, is another cause of heart disease. Often obesity comes with high cholesterol and blood pressure, which we know increase the risk of heart disease, but new studies are also showing a correlation between abdominal fat and heart disease in a way that is not yet fully understood. Either way, as the circumference of stomach increases, the risk of heart disease seems to increase more.
Also, stress causes an overall decline in health and is particularly associated with heart disease. So, unless your parents are stressing you out enough to cause a heart attack, they are not the cause of heart disease.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Rheumatic Heart Disease is Curable
Rheumatic heart disease, also called rheumatic fever, occurs when an untreated strep throat infection migrates to the joints and heart, causing fever, muscle aches, and possible permanent heart valve damage. Just as “rheumatism” refers to joint pain, “rheumatic” fever gets its name because one of its main symptoms is actually pain in the joints rather than the heart.
The National Institute of Health estimate that rheumatic heart disease develops in about 3% of untreated strep throat infections in the United States. Because mainly young people get strep, accordingly rheumatic heart disease mostly strikes people aged between six and fifteen years old.
Most people in the west who get strep will never develop rheumatic heart disease, because the strep throat infection is treated effectively with antibiotics. However, if fever, irregular heart beat, nodes under the skin, and other symptoms appear after a strep infection, a doctor will perform lab tests to diagnose rheumatic fever.
Penicillin treats rheumatic heart disease symptoms, including the contraction of the heart, which may damage heart valves; however, there is no cure for the disease, and patients must continue with penicillin injections. Some doctors argue this treatment should continue for the rest of the patient’s life. Left untreated, besides the symptoms of physical pain, rheumatic heart disease can cause permanent heart valve damage. Without surgery, heart valve damage can lead to fatal heart failure.
Cases And Treatment Worldwide
Doctors working with the Australian National Heart Foundation are working on a vaccine to prevent rheumatic fever. After an unexplained jump in the number of cases among the Aboriginal population of Australia from 2004 to 2006, doctors launched the world’s most advanced investigation of rheumatic heart disease.
In New Zealand as well, rheumatic fever is a problem among some populations, and the treatment there is penicillin shots every month for ten years. One famous rugby player, a childhood victim of rheumatic heart disease, admits to “getting lazy” about having his shots, and the symptoms of the disease returned to him as an adult. Luckily, he knew his problem and how to get help. Some people, especially those with little access to health care, simply suffer through fever attacks, and fall victim to heart valve failure.
In fact, the World Heart Federation in Geneva, Switzerland calls rheumatic fever a disease born of poverty. Though it is easily prevented by a good strep throat treatment, many young people of the world do not have access to the healthcare that would keep their heart valves healthy and extend their lives.
The National Institute of Health estimate that rheumatic heart disease develops in about 3% of untreated strep throat infections in the United States. Because mainly young people get strep, accordingly rheumatic heart disease mostly strikes people aged between six and fifteen years old.
Most people in the west who get strep will never develop rheumatic heart disease, because the strep throat infection is treated effectively with antibiotics. However, if fever, irregular heart beat, nodes under the skin, and other symptoms appear after a strep infection, a doctor will perform lab tests to diagnose rheumatic fever.
Penicillin treats rheumatic heart disease symptoms, including the contraction of the heart, which may damage heart valves; however, there is no cure for the disease, and patients must continue with penicillin injections. Some doctors argue this treatment should continue for the rest of the patient’s life. Left untreated, besides the symptoms of physical pain, rheumatic heart disease can cause permanent heart valve damage. Without surgery, heart valve damage can lead to fatal heart failure.
Cases And Treatment Worldwide
Doctors working with the Australian National Heart Foundation are working on a vaccine to prevent rheumatic fever. After an unexplained jump in the number of cases among the Aboriginal population of Australia from 2004 to 2006, doctors launched the world’s most advanced investigation of rheumatic heart disease.
In New Zealand as well, rheumatic fever is a problem among some populations, and the treatment there is penicillin shots every month for ten years. One famous rugby player, a childhood victim of rheumatic heart disease, admits to “getting lazy” about having his shots, and the symptoms of the disease returned to him as an adult. Luckily, he knew his problem and how to get help. Some people, especially those with little access to health care, simply suffer through fever attacks, and fall victim to heart valve failure.
In fact, the World Heart Federation in Geneva, Switzerland calls rheumatic fever a disease born of poverty. Though it is easily prevented by a good strep throat treatment, many young people of the world do not have access to the healthcare that would keep their heart valves healthy and extend their lives.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Three Categories of Heart Disease Treatment
Heart disease includes plaque-blocked arteries, congenital conditions, arrhythmia, and diseases of the actual heart muscle. Whether heart disease is detected early or not revealed until after heart failure, doctors have many kinds of remedies and treatments to reduce the risks of further heart disease. Broadly defined, there are three categories of heart disease treatment.
Take Two and Call Me in the Morning
If your heart is beating too quickly, or if the arteries around it contract tightly, the heart will be overtaxed, like revving an engine that’s in park. Doctors prescribe three classes of pills called nitrates, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers to let the heart run efficiently. Each of these types of heart disease treatments help the heart to beat regularly and slowly, or expand the arteries in the area of the heart so that blood flow is more regular.
Everyone has seen TV ads promoting Aspirin to thin the blood and reduce the risk of blood clots causing blocked arteries. While Aspirin does diminish the blood’s ability to form clots, other drugs fight cholesterol, which can form plaque in the arteries and lead to heart failure. These drugs are usually simply called cholesterol reducing drugs or are part of a subcategory called statins.
As always, if your doctor prescribes medicine, remember to ask plenty of questions about what the drug is and what it does.
Scalpel, Please
When clogged cardiac arteries are life threatening, heart disease treatment can mean going into surgery. Some surgeries will clear the plaque in the arteries by cleaning or grinding it away or inflating a balloon in the arteries to break up the plaque. Bypass surgeries take a large blood vessel from elsewhere in the body and graft it to the blocked artery so blood can pass to the heart.
Surgeries for other conditions include implanting a pacemaker into the heart to treat arrhythmia, and doctors can transplant aortic valves into a patient whose valve has stopped functioning properly. In case no heart disease treatment is possible, such as in infants born with heart defects, artificial hearts do exist, though they are only a temporary solution until a heart transplant can be performed.
Treat The Whole System
Of course, before your heart gets desperate enough to need drugs or surgery, look to the risk factors you can control. Don’t smoke; control your cholesterol so that plaque never gets a chance to clog your arteries; and exercise regularly, most days in a week, to keep your heart muscles healthy. Then maybe you might never need to know about heart disease treatment.
Take Two and Call Me in the Morning
If your heart is beating too quickly, or if the arteries around it contract tightly, the heart will be overtaxed, like revving an engine that’s in park. Doctors prescribe three classes of pills called nitrates, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers to let the heart run efficiently. Each of these types of heart disease treatments help the heart to beat regularly and slowly, or expand the arteries in the area of the heart so that blood flow is more regular.
Everyone has seen TV ads promoting Aspirin to thin the blood and reduce the risk of blood clots causing blocked arteries. While Aspirin does diminish the blood’s ability to form clots, other drugs fight cholesterol, which can form plaque in the arteries and lead to heart failure. These drugs are usually simply called cholesterol reducing drugs or are part of a subcategory called statins.
As always, if your doctor prescribes medicine, remember to ask plenty of questions about what the drug is and what it does.
Scalpel, Please
When clogged cardiac arteries are life threatening, heart disease treatment can mean going into surgery. Some surgeries will clear the plaque in the arteries by cleaning or grinding it away or inflating a balloon in the arteries to break up the plaque. Bypass surgeries take a large blood vessel from elsewhere in the body and graft it to the blocked artery so blood can pass to the heart.
Surgeries for other conditions include implanting a pacemaker into the heart to treat arrhythmia, and doctors can transplant aortic valves into a patient whose valve has stopped functioning properly. In case no heart disease treatment is possible, such as in infants born with heart defects, artificial hearts do exist, though they are only a temporary solution until a heart transplant can be performed.
Treat The Whole System
Of course, before your heart gets desperate enough to need drugs or surgery, look to the risk factors you can control. Don’t smoke; control your cholesterol so that plaque never gets a chance to clog your arteries; and exercise regularly, most days in a week, to keep your heart muscles healthy. Then maybe you might never need to know about heart disease treatment.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
What are you know about Women and Heart Disease
When we think of a victim of heart disease, we tend to think of men, but unfortunately, heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States. Heart disease includes the narrowing of the arteries that bring oxygen to the heart, heart failure, diseases of the heart muscles, inborn defects, and other conditions. Five hundred thousand American women die each year from heart diseases, and the risks increase as a woman ages.
The Change of Life
The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center explains that menopause changes the risks for women and heart disease. Post-menopause, a woman’s body experiences reduced estrogen production, changes in cholesterol levels, changes in the structure of blood vessels, and increased production of the clotting agent fibrinogen.
No one yet knows exactly how much a woman’s risk is affected by each of these changes, but they are definitely associated with greater heart disease risk. Women who have gone through menopause are two to three times more likely to suffer heart disease than a pre-menopausal woman of the same age. Women that have had a hysterectomy experience these same raised risk factors.
In the past, scientists studying women and heart disease hypothesized that hormone replacement therapy could help post-menopausal women fight heart disease; however, long-term studies do not confirm that preliminary idea and doctors no longer recommend hormone replacement therapy to battle heart disease. Menopause we cannot change, but other risk factors are under our control.
Using hormonal birth control (the pill or the patch) is considered safe for women under thirty-five. As of now, doctors do not have proof that birth control hormones can increase or decrease problems for women and heart disease, especially after the age of thirty-five. When talking about your heart disease risk factors with your doctor, get his or her opinion on your personal situation.
A Change of Lifestyle
Scientists studying women and heart disease find that women are knowledgeable about what lifestyles are associated with heart disease, but are also prone to having those lifestyles. For example, according to the National Institutes of Health, fifty-six million American women have high cholesterol, 33% of women have high blood pressure, and 62% of women are overweight. Despite these risks, women are less physically active than men, on average.
For women, as for men, there are a few good guidelines to a healthier heart. Habits such as not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight by regular activity or exercise, cutting down on the fatty foods, and getting your cholesterol tested can dramatically help prevent heart disease. Don’t become another statistic about women and heart disease.
The Change of Life
The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center explains that menopause changes the risks for women and heart disease. Post-menopause, a woman’s body experiences reduced estrogen production, changes in cholesterol levels, changes in the structure of blood vessels, and increased production of the clotting agent fibrinogen.
No one yet knows exactly how much a woman’s risk is affected by each of these changes, but they are definitely associated with greater heart disease risk. Women who have gone through menopause are two to three times more likely to suffer heart disease than a pre-menopausal woman of the same age. Women that have had a hysterectomy experience these same raised risk factors.
In the past, scientists studying women and heart disease hypothesized that hormone replacement therapy could help post-menopausal women fight heart disease; however, long-term studies do not confirm that preliminary idea and doctors no longer recommend hormone replacement therapy to battle heart disease. Menopause we cannot change, but other risk factors are under our control.
Using hormonal birth control (the pill or the patch) is considered safe for women under thirty-five. As of now, doctors do not have proof that birth control hormones can increase or decrease problems for women and heart disease, especially after the age of thirty-five. When talking about your heart disease risk factors with your doctor, get his or her opinion on your personal situation.
A Change of Lifestyle
Scientists studying women and heart disease find that women are knowledgeable about what lifestyles are associated with heart disease, but are also prone to having those lifestyles. For example, according to the National Institutes of Health, fifty-six million American women have high cholesterol, 33% of women have high blood pressure, and 62% of women are overweight. Despite these risks, women are less physically active than men, on average.
For women, as for men, there are a few good guidelines to a healthier heart. Habits such as not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight by regular activity or exercise, cutting down on the fatty foods, and getting your cholesterol tested can dramatically help prevent heart disease. Don’t become another statistic about women and heart disease.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Understanding Congenital Heart Disease
What is Congenital Heart Disease
Congenital heart disease, or CHD, is a malformation of the heart or a large blood vessel near the heart. Congenital heart disease is a condition that one is born with and it is one of the most common forms of major birth defects in newborns, affecting approximately 8% per 1000 infants. It is normally diagnosed within one week from birth in 40-50% of congenital heart disease cases.
This condition is not a problem until after birth, as the blood circulation differs from that after birth. The fetal circulation derives oxygen and nutrients from the mother through the placenta, and the fetal circulation has important communications between the upper heart chambers and the great blood vessels near the heart. Consequently, most types of congenital heart disease are well tolerated during fetal life.
The Cause of Congenital Heart Disease
This disease can have different causes such as:
- Environmental factors such as chemicals or drugs are sometimes to blame. For example, if a mother-to
-be catches measles or rubella during pregnancy, the infection can impair the development of the unborn baby’s heart or other organs. Similar effects can take place if the mother
-to-be consumes alcohol during pregnancy.
- Maternal diseases for the mother can increase the risks of developing congenital heart disease in the unborn baby.
- Chromosome abnormalities
– a common chromosome abnormality causing congenital heart disease is Down’s syndrome where an extra #21 chromosome is present. About 50% of children with Down’s syndrome also have CHD.
Treating Congenital Heart Disease
The treatment depends from person to person due to the huge difference in occurrence from case to case. Everything needs to be taken into consideration in order to follow an effective treatment program.
A treatment program can only be decided after proper diagnosis made by a specialist. While eating healthy and exercising always helps, congenital heart disease is a special case which needs to follow strict doctor’s instructions; no self medication or treatment is advised. Information and guidelines are available both online and in the doctor’s office to help one educate themselves in order to deal better with this disease.
Congenital heart disease, or CHD, is a malformation of the heart or a large blood vessel near the heart. Congenital heart disease is a condition that one is born with and it is one of the most common forms of major birth defects in newborns, affecting approximately 8% per 1000 infants. It is normally diagnosed within one week from birth in 40-50% of congenital heart disease cases.
This condition is not a problem until after birth, as the blood circulation differs from that after birth. The fetal circulation derives oxygen and nutrients from the mother through the placenta, and the fetal circulation has important communications between the upper heart chambers and the great blood vessels near the heart. Consequently, most types of congenital heart disease are well tolerated during fetal life.
The Cause of Congenital Heart Disease
This disease can have different causes such as:
- Environmental factors such as chemicals or drugs are sometimes to blame. For example, if a mother-to
-be catches measles or rubella during pregnancy, the infection can impair the development of the unborn baby’s heart or other organs. Similar effects can take place if the mother
-to-be consumes alcohol during pregnancy.
- Maternal diseases for the mother can increase the risks of developing congenital heart disease in the unborn baby.
- Chromosome abnormalities
– a common chromosome abnormality causing congenital heart disease is Down’s syndrome where an extra #21 chromosome is present. About 50% of children with Down’s syndrome also have CHD.
Treating Congenital Heart Disease
The treatment depends from person to person due to the huge difference in occurrence from case to case. Everything needs to be taken into consideration in order to follow an effective treatment program.
A treatment program can only be decided after proper diagnosis made by a specialist. While eating healthy and exercising always helps, congenital heart disease is a special case which needs to follow strict doctor’s instructions; no self medication or treatment is advised. Information and guidelines are available both online and in the doctor’s office to help one educate themselves in order to deal better with this disease.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Guide to Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease (CHD), also known as coronary artery disease (CAD) and atherosclerotic heart disease, is the result of accumulation of atheromatous plaques (an abnormal inflammatory accumulation of the macrophage white blood cells) within the walls of the arteries.
The symptoms and signs of coronary heart disease can only be noted in the advanced state of the disease. Most individuals who suffer from coronary heart disease can have no evidence of its existence for long periods of time before they have a stroke.
Causes of Coronary Heart Disease
- Family history of coronary heart disease
- Males are more prone to this particular disease
- Being 65-years-old or greater
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Lack of physical activities
- Menopause in women
- Infection that causes inflammation of the artery wall
Symptoms leading to coronary heart disease may not always be easily readable, as many live with clogged arteries for years before they realize they have a problem. Usually people suffering from coronary heart disease walk in the emergency room with a heart attack on their hands.
Here are some of the symptoms that may help you recognize this disease:
- Chest pain- Shortness of breath
As prevention is always better then treatment, one should try and have regular check ups and follow the doctor’s advice. Knowing in time that you are likely to have a heart problem may save you from being faced with an emergency situation, which can sometimes turn to be fatal.
Preventing Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease is the most common of heart diseases in the western world. Here are some ways to prevent ever suffering from it in the near future:
- Decrease your cholesterol level
.- Maintain your ideal body weight
– obesity is one of the main factors of coronary heart disease.
- If you are a smoker, this is yet another reason you should stop smoking
.- Have a healthy diet and exercise
– some doctors strongly recommend diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C.
Proper diet and exercise have always have always been the key to maintaining one’s health, and for centuries man has practiced this as being the best natural medicine.
Health is our most valuable possession, which often cannot be bought back once lost. One should try to make an effort to maintain what we naturally have
– good health; as an old saying goes ‘health is wealth’ after all, treasure it while you still have it.
The symptoms and signs of coronary heart disease can only be noted in the advanced state of the disease. Most individuals who suffer from coronary heart disease can have no evidence of its existence for long periods of time before they have a stroke.
Causes of Coronary Heart Disease
- Family history of coronary heart disease
- Males are more prone to this particular disease
- Being 65-years-old or greater
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Lack of physical activities
- Menopause in women
- Infection that causes inflammation of the artery wall
Symptoms leading to coronary heart disease may not always be easily readable, as many live with clogged arteries for years before they realize they have a problem. Usually people suffering from coronary heart disease walk in the emergency room with a heart attack on their hands.
Here are some of the symptoms that may help you recognize this disease:
- Chest pain- Shortness of breath
As prevention is always better then treatment, one should try and have regular check ups and follow the doctor’s advice. Knowing in time that you are likely to have a heart problem may save you from being faced with an emergency situation, which can sometimes turn to be fatal.
Preventing Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease is the most common of heart diseases in the western world. Here are some ways to prevent ever suffering from it in the near future:
- Decrease your cholesterol level
.- Maintain your ideal body weight
– obesity is one of the main factors of coronary heart disease.
- If you are a smoker, this is yet another reason you should stop smoking
.- Have a healthy diet and exercise
– some doctors strongly recommend diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C.
Proper diet and exercise have always have always been the key to maintaining one’s health, and for centuries man has practiced this as being the best natural medicine.
Health is our most valuable possession, which often cannot be bought back once lost. One should try to make an effort to maintain what we naturally have
– good health; as an old saying goes ‘health is wealth’ after all, treasure it while you still have it.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Heart Disease Symptom Can Save Your Life
The heart has the most important function of pumping blood throughout our bodies without which we cannot live, ensuring that one’s heart is in good shape and functional should always be on the priority list.
However, sometimes one heart disease or the other creeps on us and by being able to identify a heart disease symptom will save one’s life.
Heart Attack Symptoms
The heart disease symptom that is connected to heart attack is easier to read than other diseases but at the same time it can get confusing; if you are not sure of any one symptom, check with your doctor right away.
- Pain, fullness and/or squeezing sensation of the chest
- Jaw pain, toothache, headache- Shortness of breath
- Nausea, vomiting and/or general upper middle abdomen discomfort
- Sweating profusely- Heartburn and/or indigestion
- Arm pain
– more commonly left arm but sometimes the right arm as well
- Upper back pain
- General feeling of being unwell
One or more of these symptoms may occur at the same time depending from person to person where as some may have no symptoms what so ever. Knowing to recognize the heart disease symptom is not easy and often it may lead to be just a false alarm however never ignore any symptom – it’s better to be too careful than sorry.
Coronary Heart Disease Symptoms
The symptoms associated with coronary heart disease are pronounced such as:
- Chest pain or angina – is the most common heart disease symptom related to coronary disease however, the intensity of pain may vary from person to person
- Shortness of breath – this is a usual symptom of congestive heart failure; the heart is usually very weak at this point from lack of blood and oxygen and/or from a past heart attack
Heart disease symptom recognizing is usually hard as many of these symptoms can be caused by many other different factors as well; this is probably one of the main causes why some people walk in emergency rooms sometimes too late to be able to be helped.
If you are faced with any kind of doubt about a heart disease symptom that you may have, check with your doctor as soon as possible in order to avoid a disaster.
Your health is the most important possession, learn to listen to your heart and protect yourself from any heart disease by conducting regular check ups, eating healthy and exercising as much as possible.
However, sometimes one heart disease or the other creeps on us and by being able to identify a heart disease symptom will save one’s life.
Heart Attack Symptoms
The heart disease symptom that is connected to heart attack is easier to read than other diseases but at the same time it can get confusing; if you are not sure of any one symptom, check with your doctor right away.
- Pain, fullness and/or squeezing sensation of the chest
- Jaw pain, toothache, headache- Shortness of breath
- Nausea, vomiting and/or general upper middle abdomen discomfort
- Sweating profusely- Heartburn and/or indigestion
- Arm pain
– more commonly left arm but sometimes the right arm as well
- Upper back pain
- General feeling of being unwell
One or more of these symptoms may occur at the same time depending from person to person where as some may have no symptoms what so ever. Knowing to recognize the heart disease symptom is not easy and often it may lead to be just a false alarm however never ignore any symptom – it’s better to be too careful than sorry.
Coronary Heart Disease Symptoms
The symptoms associated with coronary heart disease are pronounced such as:
- Chest pain or angina – is the most common heart disease symptom related to coronary disease however, the intensity of pain may vary from person to person
- Shortness of breath – this is a usual symptom of congestive heart failure; the heart is usually very weak at this point from lack of blood and oxygen and/or from a past heart attack
Heart disease symptom recognizing is usually hard as many of these symptoms can be caused by many other different factors as well; this is probably one of the main causes why some people walk in emergency rooms sometimes too late to be able to be helped.
If you are faced with any kind of doubt about a heart disease symptom that you may have, check with your doctor as soon as possible in order to avoid a disaster.
Your health is the most important possession, learn to listen to your heart and protect yourself from any heart disease by conducting regular check ups, eating healthy and exercising as much as possible.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Effects of Kidney and Heart Disease
Good health is something you cannot take for granted; thus, constantly maintaining it by eating well, exercising, and having regular check ups is what every one of us must strive for.
All our body parts and organs are vital for a happy existence; however, the heart is one of the most important organs, without which living is not possible. When faced with heart disease, treatment can be challenging, but when heart problems combine with another major organ failure, there can be fatal consequences.
Kidney and Heart Disease
Renal and coronary artery disease may progress parallel to each other, and there are many heart related diseases that affect the kidney, as well.
Kidney’s function is to filter wastes and excrete fluid by using the bloodstream’s own natural pressure. There are a number of causes that can trigger damage to the kidneys, and some of them are:
- Decreased blood flow, which is usually caused by clogged arteries that, in turn, will cause a kidney and heart disease.- Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) – this may occur when tissues are not getting enough oxygen or when the renal artery is blocked or narrowed.- Over-exposure to metals, solvents, radiographic contract materials, and certain types of medications.- Myoglobin in the urine (myoglobinuria) – this condition occurs when one consumes excessive amounts of alcohol, tissue death of muscles for any given cause, or other disorders.- Direct kidney injury.- Infections such as acute septicemia.- Blood disorders, which affect the heart and can lead into a joint kidney and heart disease.
There are many other causes, which can lead to the deadly combination of kidney and heart disease. You need to do everything in your power in order to avoid this dangerous duo attack. It is more than likely that in a situation where you are faced with kidney and heart disease at the same time that the outcome is fatal.
Prevention is Better Than a Cure
The only way to prevent a double failure of your body’s systems is to be constantly aware of your health’s situation by conducting regular check ups with your doctor and following his/her advice.
Knowing in time that you are in danger of some major failure, or that you will be faced with a serious disease should you not take precautions right away, will help save your life. Most people who have heart attacks never suspected one and usually end up in emergency room in a critical state. Take charge of your life and take care of your health today.
All our body parts and organs are vital for a happy existence; however, the heart is one of the most important organs, without which living is not possible. When faced with heart disease, treatment can be challenging, but when heart problems combine with another major organ failure, there can be fatal consequences.
Kidney and Heart Disease
Renal and coronary artery disease may progress parallel to each other, and there are many heart related diseases that affect the kidney, as well.
Kidney’s function is to filter wastes and excrete fluid by using the bloodstream’s own natural pressure. There are a number of causes that can trigger damage to the kidneys, and some of them are:
- Decreased blood flow, which is usually caused by clogged arteries that, in turn, will cause a kidney and heart disease.- Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) – this may occur when tissues are not getting enough oxygen or when the renal artery is blocked or narrowed.- Over-exposure to metals, solvents, radiographic contract materials, and certain types of medications.- Myoglobin in the urine (myoglobinuria) – this condition occurs when one consumes excessive amounts of alcohol, tissue death of muscles for any given cause, or other disorders.- Direct kidney injury.- Infections such as acute septicemia.- Blood disorders, which affect the heart and can lead into a joint kidney and heart disease.
There are many other causes, which can lead to the deadly combination of kidney and heart disease. You need to do everything in your power in order to avoid this dangerous duo attack. It is more than likely that in a situation where you are faced with kidney and heart disease at the same time that the outcome is fatal.
Prevention is Better Than a Cure
The only way to prevent a double failure of your body’s systems is to be constantly aware of your health’s situation by conducting regular check ups with your doctor and following his/her advice.
Knowing in time that you are in danger of some major failure, or that you will be faced with a serious disease should you not take precautions right away, will help save your life. Most people who have heart attacks never suspected one and usually end up in emergency room in a critical state. Take charge of your life and take care of your health today.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Smoking and Heart Disease
Cigarette smoking is a major cause of heart diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.
Some Heart Disease Facts Due to Smoking:
- Tobacco contains more then 4,000 chemicals, many are known to be poisonous.- Nicotine increases blood pressure, because the carbon monoxide makes the heart beat faster and takes the place of oxygen in the blood.- Tar in tobacco causes cancer, which can be a fatal disease.- Smoking for long periods of time will cause artery clogging, which in turn leads to heart attacks from overworking the heart by reducing its oxygen supply. It also makes clots more likely to form in the blood vessels increasing the risk of potentially fatal changes in the heart beat.- Those who are regular, long-time smokers have a 70% greater risk of death from coronary heart disease than non-smokers.- 80% of new smokers are children and adolescents who are trying to copy a parent or other hero figure.
Passive smoking can cause heart disease, and those who do not smoke directly but inhale smoke from others are at direct risk, as well.
- Living with an active smoker increases one’s risk of heart disease by 30%.- Inhaling smoke is especially dangerous for children and unborn babies (pregnant women) and can lead to low birth weight babies, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and middle ear infection.
Stop Smoking to Improve Your Health and Increase Your Life Span
Many choose smoking to cope with stress, loose weight, because of poor self-esteem, or simply to fit in the friend’s circle by looking ‘cool.’ Most of the first time smokers get their first cigarette from someone else or find it readily available in the house from a smoking parent. Here are
some great reasons to stop smoking now:
- Smoking causes heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack.- Your smoking can cause the same bad effects on your family and friends around you who don’t smoke.- Save money from not buying cigarettes – if you do the math, depending on how much you smoke, you are looking at couple of thousand dollars a year.
Getting Help
If you think you cannot do it with just plain will power and/or if you are a heavy smoker, get help before you start so you can successfully quit the habit.
- Check with your doctor first and see what course of action he/she recommends.- Nicotine patch/pills/chewing gums are a great substitute.- Try to quit along with a friend or a group.
Cigarette smoking can cause you to die early and those who live close to you to inhale the smoke – that in itself should be reason enough to quit. Enjoy a healthy life and offer clean air to your family and friends – quit smoking today.
Some Heart Disease Facts Due to Smoking:
- Tobacco contains more then 4,000 chemicals, many are known to be poisonous.- Nicotine increases blood pressure, because the carbon monoxide makes the heart beat faster and takes the place of oxygen in the blood.- Tar in tobacco causes cancer, which can be a fatal disease.- Smoking for long periods of time will cause artery clogging, which in turn leads to heart attacks from overworking the heart by reducing its oxygen supply. It also makes clots more likely to form in the blood vessels increasing the risk of potentially fatal changes in the heart beat.- Those who are regular, long-time smokers have a 70% greater risk of death from coronary heart disease than non-smokers.- 80% of new smokers are children and adolescents who are trying to copy a parent or other hero figure.
Passive smoking can cause heart disease, and those who do not smoke directly but inhale smoke from others are at direct risk, as well.
- Living with an active smoker increases one’s risk of heart disease by 30%.- Inhaling smoke is especially dangerous for children and unborn babies (pregnant women) and can lead to low birth weight babies, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and middle ear infection.
Stop Smoking to Improve Your Health and Increase Your Life Span
Many choose smoking to cope with stress, loose weight, because of poor self-esteem, or simply to fit in the friend’s circle by looking ‘cool.’ Most of the first time smokers get their first cigarette from someone else or find it readily available in the house from a smoking parent. Here are
some great reasons to stop smoking now:
- Smoking causes heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack.- Your smoking can cause the same bad effects on your family and friends around you who don’t smoke.- Save money from not buying cigarettes – if you do the math, depending on how much you smoke, you are looking at couple of thousand dollars a year.
Getting Help
If you think you cannot do it with just plain will power and/or if you are a heavy smoker, get help before you start so you can successfully quit the habit.
- Check with your doctor first and see what course of action he/she recommends.- Nicotine patch/pills/chewing gums are a great substitute.- Try to quit along with a friend or a group.
Cigarette smoking can cause you to die early and those who live close to you to inhale the smoke – that in itself should be reason enough to quit. Enjoy a healthy life and offer clean air to your family and friends – quit smoking today.
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