Heart Attack. Are You at Risk?
Posted on December 9, 2014
What is heart disease and how do I get it? This question is one that we get regularly.Heart disease is any disease that afflicts the heart. The most common cause is atherosclerosis. This is when plaque builds up on the walls of the arteries that feed blood to your heart. At narrow points in the artery, sometimes the plaque can become so thick it restricts the blood flow to the heart causing angina which can be helped by immediately withdrawing from the over exertion and/or taking fast acting vasodilators.
When a piece of this plaque breaks off blood rushes to it and clogs forming a thrombosis which can become big enough that it totally blocks off your artery causing a heart attack. Untreated heart attacks lead to permanent heart tissue damage and then death. If you’re lucky enough to survive a heart attack then you will be forced to change your diet and incorporate exercise into your life to prevent it from happening again. The one advantage is that surgery innovations are so effective that if you introduce exercise and make small changes to your diet you can often go on to live a healthy life without ever having to worry about having another heart attack again.
You’ve had a heart attack and don’t want it to happen again, what should you do? You need to start exercising immediately. This doesn’t mean going to the gym and it definitely doesn’t mean lifting heavy weights, it means you should start by performing any cardiovascular exercise you enjoy at an intensity where you can still talk. If that only lasts 5 minutes then it only lasts 5 minutes if it’s 30 minutes that’s better. The important thing is that you’re doing something and developing the habit to build on it. If you start experiencing chest pain, nausea or any other heart attack symptom stop immediately and get medical help.
Exercise
If you’re looking for some exercise guidance try our app – we have all kinds of tools to show you what to do and help motivate you to be more active
