How to recognize a heart attack and what lifestyle to lead to avoid it.
Cardiac imaging graph. Photo: Shutterstock.
And heart attack may not always start the way you expect. For example, some people think that chest pain is always felt, but some people have experienced a heart attack and it all started with a pain in the stomach, so not knowing the symptoms of this condition can delay medical help. What are the symptoms and causes of a heart attack? Is there anything that can be done to prevent it?
First of all, risk factors for acute myocardial infarction should be considered, which are classified as non-modifiable, such as age, sex, family history, diseases or previous conditions, and modifiable factors, which are those actions that can be executed preventively to reduce the risk.
Main risk factors for acute myocardial infarction
The main risk factors include the following:
– Age: the older you get, the more likely you are to develop coronary heart disease.
– Sex: men are up to three times more likely to suffer a heart attack than women.
– Family history: whoever has a first-degree relative (mother, father, brother/sister) with a history of coronary diseases –such as angina pectoris or heart attack- is twice as likely to develop these problems.
– Smoking: the toxins present in cigarettes reduce the caliber of the coronary arteries and damage them. In small amounts, tobacco is also harmful. Just one cigarette a day increases your chances of developing coronary heart disease by up to 30%.
– Unhealthy diet: high-fat diets raise blood cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease. To reduce cholesterol levels, some foods can contribute, such as oily fish or virgin olive oil.
– Sedentary lifestyle: lack of physical activity is associated with overweight, obesity and hypertension and, therefore, with suffering from coronary disease.
– Arterial hypertension: since it affects the coronary arteries. The higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk of coronary heart disease.
– Diabetes: the increase in glucose in the blood can damage the coronary arteries.
– Overweight or obesity: with higher cholesterol levels.
– Alcohol consumption: this can cause hypertension and increased cholesterol.
Although it is a less frequent cause, it is also considered that drug use can contribute to triggering heart failure. Stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamines, crack cocaine, and methamphetamines can cause narrowing of the coronary arteries.
In fact, one of the most common causes of sudden death following a heart attack, in young people who did not have previously known heart disease, is cocaine use.
Among the five main risk factors that can lead to a heart attack are tobacco use, high blood pressure, being overweight or obese, high cholesterol levels and a sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, to reduce the risk, lifestyle changes must be implemented in each patient.
Heart failure and high cholesterol levels
Research has long indicated that diet and cholesterol play an important role in heart health. LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, is an established risk factor for heart disease. This has led researchers to determine minor dietary changes to lower cholesterol and prevent future heart disease.
However, for whom diet and exercise are not enough, medication might be an option, always under medical supervision.
Certain medications can help lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or “bad” cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease.
They can also help lower triglycerides and increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol, which protects once morest heart disease.
Some of these medications might be from the group of statins, which lower LDL and triglycerides and slightly increase HDL; cholesterol absorption inhibitors, PCSK9 inhibitors, which lower LDL and are often used in people who have a genetic condition that causes very high LDL levels or who have heart disease and cannot tolerate statins or other cholesterol-lowering drugs cholesterol.
Some of the medications might cause side effects such as muscle pain, constipation, cramps, itching, among others. Also, some may be contraindicated during pregnancy and lactation. Therefore, you should always have medical supervision and lead a healthy lifestyle.
