Understanding Coronary Heart Disease
Health experts say the four major risk factors for coronary heart disease are: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking and inactivity. Two of those factors may be partially hereditary and may be uncovered during a physical by the inflatable arm cuff test or a urinalysis. However, the other two factors are lifestyle choices that could really make or break your cardiovascular health.
high cholesterol and heart disease go hand in hand Most people don’t even realize they have it until it’s too late, even though basic medical tests can reveal telltale signs like elevated triglycerides, congestive heart disease and other forms of heart disease. Some people may experience “angina pectoris,” which is the medical term for discomfort, heaviness, aching, burning, numbness or pain in the chest, left shoulder, arms, back or jaw. Often this pain will feel similar to indigestion but won’t occur around meal times. Depending on what kind of angina you’re suffering from, the pain may come after exertion (stable angina), when sleeping and while out in the cold (prinzmetal’s angina) or sometimes even just suddenly while resting (unstable angina). Shortness of breath, heart palpitations, dizziness, nausea and sweating often accompany the angina symptoms.
No matter what level of coronary heart disease you’re suffering from, lifestyle and diet changes are essential. All other treatments are merely complementary. In some cases, you may be prescribed medications to lower high blood pressure, oxygenate blood, slow the heartbeat down and open up restrictive blood vessels. In severe cases, balloon angioplasty surgery, stent placement or coronary bypass are needed. Health experts are looking into new treatments like transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMR), which utilizes laser beams to blast through the channels in your heart muscle, freeing up blood flow. Angiogenesis provides substances through the vein or directly into the heart, where the transporters have failed. Enhanced external counterpulsation can stimulate the opening of blood vessels in a very non-invasive way.
While some people are born genetically susceptible to coronary heart disease, the overwhelming majority of us become victimized by our imbalanced eating habits, our 50 hour work weeks, our poor sleep quality, our lack of exercise, our smoking, our drinking and our stress. There comes a point where we need to realize that work could be the end-all of existence if we don’t better organize our priorities. On a positive note, more and more Americans are looking for healthier ways of living, judging by the number of self-help books flying off the shelves. There may not be an easy answer for lowering cholesterol or bypassing atherosclerosis, but with a positive attitude and a little bit of hard work, we can live a long, healthy life.
Tags: exercise, Health, nutrition
