Every February our attention is turned to “hearts”. Most of the time it is the chocolate kind as seen when you walk into any retail store. But February is also “Heart Awareness Month”. It is an important time to remember that keeping our heart healthy may prevent a family from becoming “heart broken”.
There has been a considerable amount of new research on the prevention of heart attacks and strokes in the last several years, but myths still abound. The misconception still remains that cardiovascular disease events (heart attacks and strokes) mostly occur in men. The truth is that cardiovascular disease is still the number one KILLER of men and women. The “Go Red for Women” campaign is an effort to bring that awareness to the public.
Now that there are readily available interventions such as stents and bypass surgeries to keep someone alive, prevention may not be as high on the radar as perhaps it should be. Keep in mind, there are no surgeries to reverse the complications of a stroke. We don’t get to choose which type event we will have!
Here are some facts for you to ponder. You can still have a heart attack or stroke if you are normal weight, exercise regularly, don’t smoke and have normal cholesterol! In fact, HALF of all heart attacks occur in people who have normal cholesterol. Genetics and other factors play a crucial role in your risk. There is now advanced testing available for these determinations.
Another fact is that stress tests are not good screening tools to detect whether or not someone has plaque (atherosclerosis). Stress tests can only detect over about 70% blockage of the artery. 86% of heart attacks are from plaque blockage that is less than 70%! So, you can have coronary artery disease (plaque) and still have a normal stress test! What research has now discovered is that it is the combination of plaque and inflammation that causes the heart attack or stroke. Arterial inflammation can cause plaque to rupture and the subsequent clot blocks the blood flow to the heart or the brain.
Inflammation is caused by a number of factors. If these root causes are not addressed and you have plaque, you are at higher risk of having an event. A few examples of inflammation include high blood pressure, gum disease, (periodontitis), diabetes or pre-diabetes, sleep apnea and
arthritis.
Don’t wait until you have symptoms to learn that you have cardiovascular disease. You might not live to tell about it. The best valentine gift you can give to your loved ones is to take your heart health seriously.