From Your Health Journal…..”A great article out of Canada from Club Metro with advice on how to prevent heart attacks. Who better to get advice on this but from a cardiologist – Dr. Beth Abramson. Dr. Abramson suggests it is important to understand how your heart works – and picking up on signals such as chest discomfort, squeezing, burning, nausea, shortness of breath, light-headedness, or cold/clammy feelings. One important line in the article is important to take not of which states, “Understanding how your ticker works — and what can go wrong with it — is essential knowledge for everyone, especially those who have heart disease or are at risk of developing it. The tricky thing about heart disease — a group of conditions that affect the heart’s structure and functions — is that people can find themselves in serious danger before noticing any symptoms.” Common risk factors for heart disease include a family history of the disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Heart disease is a leading cause of death in may parts of the world, including the United States and Canada. Please visit the Club Metro web site (link provided below) to read the complete story. As short snip is below.”

From the article…..

A man suddenly clutches his chest, feeling the weight of an elephant pressing on him, then keels over in pain. Doctors refer to this as a Hollywood heart attack.

But for many, the signs aren’t so dramatic. The symptoms may not even be sudden or severe. There may be chest discomfort that can feel like a squeezing or burning sensation. There may be pain radiating through the upper body, below the nose and above the navel. And there may be nausea, shortness of breath, a feeling light-headedness and a cold and clammy feeling.

Understanding how your ticker works — and what can go wrong with it — is essential knowledge for everyone, especially those who have heart disease or are at risk of developing it. The tricky thing about heart disease — a group of conditions that affect the heart’s structure and functions — is that people can find themselves in serious danger before noticing any symptoms.

Toronto cardiologist Dr. Beth Abramson routinely sees the look of dread and confusion on the faces of patients when they receive a diagnosis of heart disease. The most common condition is coronary artery disease, which occurs when blood vessels to the heart become blocked or narrow, restricting the flow of oxygen and blood.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in Canada, which is why, after more than 20 years as a physician and more than a decade as a volunteer spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Abramson sat down and wrote Heart Health for Canadians: The Definitive Guide, in bookstores Jan. 22.

It’s a crash course in heart disease, looking at reducing one’s risk of heart problems; navigating the health-care system, through the various diagnostic tests (such as electrocardiograms, stress tests and angiograms); and finding available treatments to manage the disease.

“My goal with this book is to reduce people’s fears and misconceptions surrounding heart health,” says Abramson, director of the Cardiac Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital. “The book is a tool for pro-active health and gives Canadians a way to empower themselves through knowledge.”

Abramson, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, notes that she is taking cutting-edge concepts in cardiac care and breaking them down into simple components of what people need to know. The book is full of anecdotes about real patients, which makes the information more readily accessible to readers.

For instance, don’t do what some of her patients have done. Don’t ignore the signs of a heart attack and chalk it up to heartburn or indigestion, carry on with daily activities like taking your child to soccer practice or wait until you get home from vacation before seeing a doctor.

Canada’s growing aging population and the rise in obesity, inactivity and diabetes make this book especially timely, says Dr. Anthony Graham, a board member of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Some sample facts from the article…..

– 80: Percentage of premature heart disease and stroke that is preventable.

– 30: Percentage of deaths worldwide from cardiovascular diseases— heart attack and stroke— making it No. 1 killer.

– 17.3: Number of people in millions who died worldwide from cardiovascular disease in 2008.

– 23.6: Number of people in millions worldwide estimated to die annually by 2030 from cardiovascular disease.

– 70,000: Number of heart attacks in Canada each year.

To read the full article…..Click here