Hello Everyone – I am sitting at the St. Joseph hospital in Atlanta. My husband had a stent put into a major artery that was 95-99% blocked! and we had no idea except for the minor chest pain that he had upon exersion. This had been going on for about 6 weeks or so and he kept putting off going to his doctor. Finally, he made his annual doctor visit, mentioned this minor chest pain and his doctor immediately had him make an appointmet for a stress test. Later that afternoon, after the stress test, my husband got a call from from the Cardiac Care unit and they told him, ‘come in on Monday to see the doctor and don’t do anything stressful over the weekend’. We went in on Monday, the doctor went over the stress test with us and on Tuesday, we were at St. Jospeph hospital for a catherization. They told us that they were not sure if where the blockage is whether a stent would work or if open heart/bypass surgery would have to be done. The stent worked, Thank God, and now we are on our way to recovery! The thing is, don’t wait around. Don’t put off seeing your doctor if you have any issues whatsoever with your heart or chest pains. Some people do not get the early warning signs of chest pains or discomfort, they just die!
We were told a story of a young, 39 year old family man, who worked out daily. He came in from his workout and sat down on the sofa. His wife was taking their children to the pool and asked if he wanted to go. He told her he was going to take a quick shower and he would probably walk to the pool in a little bit. The wife left with the kids but in a few minutes, realized that she had forgotten something so went back to the house. When she went in, she found her husband dead. He had died of a massive heart attack and had no warning signs at all!
Below please find some information about heart disease. Please stay on top of your health, exercise, eat right and see your doctor regularly.
Compliments of Life Line Screening Life Line Screening
(Click on picture to zoom)
Stroke’s Silent Risk Factor -
To protect yourself from stroke, the best place to start is lowering your blood pressure.
High blood pressure – or hypertension – can injure your arteries, increasing the likelihood that plaque deposits will develop in them. As your damaged arteries grow narrow and hard, your blood pressure goes up more.
Ideally, your blood pressure should be below 120/80 mm Hg. If it’s between 120/80 and 139/89, it’s considered prehypertension. This means you don’t have high blood pressure yet, but you’re likely to develop it. If your blood pressure is 140/90 or higher, you have hypertension.
High blood pressure doesn’t typically cause any signs or symptoms – so roughly one third of the people with the problem don’t even know they have it. If you haven’t had yours checked recently, ask your doctor to check yours at your next visit.
Heart disease refers to a collection of diseases and conditions affecting the heart. It is one component of cardiovascular disease, which also includes diseases of the blood vessels (vascular system).
One type of heart disease is coronary artery disease or CAD. Coronary artery disease includes diseases of the arteries that supply the heart with blood and is the leading cause of heart attacks. The most common cause of CAD is atherosclerosis or plaque build-up in the arteries.
Heart Disease Statistics from the American Heart Association
- Heart disease is the #1 killer of American males and females.
- About every 26 seconds an American suffers a coronary event, and about every minute someone dies from one.
- On average, 14.2 years of life are lost due to a heart attack.
- 50% of men and 64% of women who died suddenly of heart disease had no previous symptoms of the disease.
- More women than men die of cardiovascular disease each year.
Heart disease prevention starts with reliable health screening services to determine the status of your cardiovascular system, which means, SEE YOUR DOCTOR!
Source: Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2006 Update, American Heart Association
Source: National Institutes of Health
March 28, 2008
Beth,
I couldn’t help but notice how much the stories of your husband and the young family man reinforce the importance of preventive screening.
Thanks so much for using information from Life Line Screening. Many of the diseases we screen for have no warning signs or symptoms – but they do have risk factors that, when caught early on, can help save the lives of people like those in this post.
It’s good to hear your husband is on the path to recovery, and thanks again for the link.
March 31, 2008
I am a firm believer of Preventative Screening. I will be talking with everyone who will listen about getting to the doctor and having regular check ups. CVS Pharmacy in our town has a screening the last Wednesday of every month. I hope people in Jasper Georgia take advantage of this.
Beth