Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)

Why The Entire Family Must Know The Signs Of Heart Attack

Don't wait to see if the symptoms go away – it's always better to be safe than sorry

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in many countries around the world. A heart attack, which occurs when blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked, is a major event associated with heart disease. Recognizing the signs of a heart attack and acting quickly can significantly improve the chances of survival and minimize damage to the heart muscle. This is why it's crucial for everyone in the family, regardless of age, to be familiar with the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

Early action saves lives

During a heart attack, time is crucial. The longer it takes to receive treatment, the greater the potential for heart damage. By recognizing the warning signs and calling emergency services immediately, you can significantly increase the chances of a successful recovery for yourself or a loved one. Even if the symptoms seem mild or atypical, it's always better to err on the side of caution and seek medical attention.

Heart attack symptoms don't always look like the movies

Hollywood portrayals of heart attacks often depict a person clutching their chest and collapsing dramatically. While chest pain is a common symptom, it doesn't always manifest in the same way for everyone. Some people experience no chest pain at all. Here's a breakdown of some of the most common signs of a heart attack, recognizing these in yourself or someone around you can be lifesaving:

Chest discomfort: This is the most common symptom, but it can vary greatly. It may feel like pressure, tightness, squeezing or a burning sensation. The discomfort may come and go or be constant.

Pain or discomfort in other areas: Pain can radiate to other parts of the upper body, such as the arms, back, shoulders, neck, jaw or teeth.

Shortness of breath: Difficulty breathing is another common symptom, often accompanying chest discomfort. It may feel like you can't catch your breath, even when resting.

Nausea, vomiting or indigestion: These symptoms can sometimes mimic heartburn or indigestion, but they can also be signs of a heart attack, especially in women.

Cold sweat: Breaking out in a cold sweat — often accompanied by clammy skin — can be a sign of a heart attack.

Lightheadedness or dizziness: Feeling faint or dizzy can occur during a heart attack, especially if there's a significant drop in blood pressure.

Extreme fatigue: Unusual and unexplained fatigue can be a warning sign, particularly in women.

Remember: Not everyone experiences all symptoms

It's important to remember that not everyone will experience all of these symptoms, and the severity can vary greatly. Some people may only have one or two mild symptoms, while others may have several intense symptoms. If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these warning signs, don't hesitate to call emergency services immediately.

Risk factors for heart attack

While a heart attack can strike anyone, certain factors can increase your risk. Understanding these risk factors can help you and your family take steps to prevent a heart attack:

Family history: Having a close relative (parent, sibling, child) with a history of heart disease increases your risk.

Age: The risk of heart attack increases with age.

High blood pressure: Uncontrolled high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and heart attack.

High cholesterol: High levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol and low levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol can contribute to plaque buildup in arteries.

Smoking: Smoking significantly increases your risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases.

Diabetes: Diabetes can damage blood vessels and increase your risk of heart attack.

Obesity: Being significantly overweight or obese increases your risk of heart attack.

Unhealthy diet: A diet high in saturated and trans fats, processed foods and added sugar can contribute to heart disease.

Physical inactivity: A lack of regular physical activity is a risk factor for heart disease.

Stress: Chronic stress can contribute to high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart attack.

Taking action for a heart-healthy family

There are many things you and your family can do to reduce the risk of heart attack:

Know your family history: Talk to your family members about their health history, particularly regarding heart disease.

Schedule regular checkups: Get regular checkups with your doctor to monitor your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar.

Embrace a healthy lifestyle: Eat a heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Limit saturated and trans fats, processed foods and added sugar. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise. Manage stress through relaxation techniques like meditation or yoga.

Quit smoking: If you smoke, quitting is the single most important thing you can do to improve your heart health. Talk to your doctor about smoking cessation programs or medications that can help.

Maintain a healthy weight: If you're overweight or obese, losing even a moderate amount of weight can significantly improve your heart health.

Open communication is key

Having open communication within your family about heart health is crucial. Here are some tips:

Family discussions: Schedule regular family discussions about heart health. Talk about risk factors, healthy lifestyle habits and the importance of recognizing warning signs.

Encourage questions: Create a safe space for everyone in the family to ask questions and express concerns about their heart health.

Lead by example: Make healthy choices yourself and encourage your family members to do the same. Cook healthy meals together, get active as a family and prioritize stress-management techniques.

By being informed about the signs of a heart attack, understanding risk factors and taking steps towards a healthy lifestyle, you and your family can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and promote overall cardiovascular health. Remember, early action is critical. If you or someone you know is experiencing any potential heart attack symptoms, call emergency services immediately. Don't wait to see if the symptoms go away – it's always better to be safe than sorry.

This story was created using AI technology.

Maintaining Heart Health Is Equal Parts Healthy Habits And Awareness — Here's How To Start

When it comes to heart disease, many risk factors are things we have control over, such as diet, exercise and other lifestyle choices. Even if you have a family history of heart issues, you can lower your risk by making healthy choices that support your heart. As with any component of your health, knowledge is power. Educate yourself with these tips from Baylor Scott & White Health to help you understand your risk of cardiovascular issues and discover how you can take proactive steps to care for your heart.

Discuss your heart health with a primary care provider

Annual wellness exams are crucial for maintaining your health and identifying early warning signs of heart disease. Even if you don't have any preexisting problems, it's a good idea to meet regularly with a primary care provider. They'll be able to look at your medical history, lifestyle and any health challenges and give an informed assessment of your risk profile. Together, you and your doctor can develop a personalized plan to improve your health and lower your risk of heart disease.

Related:Making health care more convenient for Texans

At your regular wellness exam, your primary care provider may recommend different tests to help determine the baseline of your heart health. Risk calculators like the Framingham Risk Score and the ASCVD risk calculator are often used to predict your risk of a cardiovascular event — like a heart attack, coronary heart disease death or a stroke — in the next 10 years.

FWD>DFW

Making a difference in North Texas is our "why".

Your primary care provider may also recommend a lipid screening, also known as a cholesterol test, to gauge the levels of lipids (fats) in your blood. Here are some key terms to know in order to understand how cholesterol impacts your risk of heart disease:

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol: Often referred to as "bad" cholesterol, high levels of LDL cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol: Known as "good" cholesterol, higher levels of HDL cholesterol are beneficial for heart health.

Total cholesterol: This is the sum of your LDL and HDL cholesterol levels.

Triglycerides: These are another type of fat in the blood. High triglyceride levels can also contribute to heart disease risk.

If you see a Baylor Scott & White Health provider, you can track the results of your screenings through the MyBSWHealth app. You can even message your physician with questions about the results of your screening or schedule a follow-up appointment.

Your doctor can help you understand what your test results mean and how your lifestyle plays a role. When you visit the doctor regularly for your annual wellness exams, they can monitor your levels over time, giving you peace of mind about your heart health. If necessary, your primary care doctor can also help connect you with a cardiologist for more specialized care for certain heart conditions.

The benefits of healthy, sustainable habits

What kind of lifestyle choices should you be making to keep your heart healthy? Regular exercise and a balanced diet are at the top of the list, but remember that long-term, sustainable healthy habits are more powerful than the short-term gains of a crash diet or an intense workout. It's better to make small, incremental changes that you can maintain throughout your life than to be a yo-yo swinging from one diet to the next. Consistency is key.

Healthy habits don't require fancy equipment, elaborate recipes or hours of time. Paul Figel, DO, a family medicine physician on the medical staff at Baylor Scott & White Family Medical Center - North Garland, says that improving your diet and exercise habits doesn't have to be overwhelming.

"The best diet is a well-balanced, sustainable one," he says. "Focus on whole foods, ingredients you can pronounce, and avoid artificial sweeteners." Pass on the latest fad diets and stick with smaller portions instead. If you feel that you need more concrete guidelines, maintaining a Mediterranean diet high in plant-based foods and healthy fats has been linked to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

As for exercise, again, sustainability is key. If you don't already have a regular routine, build one into your life by taking small steps. You could start with 5–10 minutes of daily activity and work your way up to 30 minutes each day. Try to incorporate more movement into the things you're already doing: Take the stairs at work or go on a walk during your lunch break.

Once you've built up a habit of daily exercise, you can refine it to include specific strengthening activities or more vigorous exercise. If your preferred form of exercise falls into the category of moderate intensity — like a brisk walk or light bike ride — aim for 150 minutes of activity per week, according to the World Health Organization's guidelines. Should you prefer playing sports or more vigorous forms of exercise like going on a hike or taking a jog, aim for about 75 minutes per week.

"When exercising for cardiovascular benefit, you want to aim for an effort that increases your heart and breathing rate just enough to where it would be difficult for you to carry on a conversation," Figel says.

Know the signs of heart problems and be prepared

Even if you are taking all of the steps to prevent cardiovascular health issues, you should still familiarize yourself with the signs of heart problems so that you'll be prepared if they arise. Heart failure is most commonly indicated by chest pain that can be described as an aching,  pressure-like sensation with pain that radiates to the jaw, neck, and left arm, and can be accompanied by feelings of nausea, indigestion or heartburn, shortness of breath and light-headedness or sudden dizziness. Should you experience these symptoms, seek medical help immediately.

Bottom line: Educating yourself about cardiovascular health and making healthy lifestyle changes can help you reduce your risk of heart health issues. To get an idea of where your cardiovascular wellness stands, take this free quiz offered by Baylor Scott & White Health. From there, you can connect with a primary care provider and get a jump start on a lifetime of heart-healthy habits.

Women's Heart Disease Is Under-diagnosed, But New Scoring System Could Help Solve This Problem

Researchers are recommending an upgrade in a widely used scoring system to ensure better heart disease diagnosis in women.

The researchers suggest leveraging big data and incorporating machine learning to improve the Framingham Risk Score system.

Experts say medical professionals as well as women themselves tend to ignore cardiovascular disease symptoms in females.

The scoring system used to predict a person's risk of cardiovascular disease needs to get an upgrade to ensure it accounts for risk factors specifically affecting women, according to a study published today in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.

The Framingham Risk Score (FRS) analyzes six factors to determine a person's likelihood of experiencing a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years. The six factors are age, gender, diabetes, cholesterol, smoking habits, and blood pressure.

While the system does account for gender, researchers say it has never considered the more specific factors within the female body that significantly affect their risk of heart attack or stroke.

"Anatomically, female and male hearts are different," the study authors wrote. "For example, female hearts are smaller and have thinner walls. Yet, the diagnostic criteria for certain heart diseases are the same for women and men, meaning that women's hearts must increase disproportionally more than men's before the same risk criteria are met."

The researchers said the current design of the FRS means multiple cardiovascular conditions are overlooked and consequently under-diagnosed in women.

"When it comes to cardiovascular diseases in particular, the prevalence of these diseases is higher in men than women, but several studies have shown that women are less likely to be diagnosed during a routine exam, get diagnosed at an older age, and with more severe symptoms than men," Skyler St. Pierre, a study author and a researcher at the Stanford University Living Matter Lab in California, told Medical News Today. "This really points to the fact that we are under-diagnosing women and the current screening methods are not catching women with cardiovascular diseases early enough."

The researchers suggest leveraging large data sets as well as incorporating machine learning into the FRS to help improve the diagnosis for women.

Medical research has been criticized in the past for collecting data on a specific condition or medication, and then generalizing the results to women.

"The lack of sex-specific diagnostic criteria is a major contributor to why this is happening," said St. Pierre, "but other factors like medical misogyny and lack of awareness for the different symptoms that women may exhibit compared to men can't be ignored either."

"Women are not just small men," said Dr. Evelina Grayver, a cardiologist and director of Women's Heart Health at Central Region Northwell Health in New York who wasn't involved in the study.

"We're so different, physiologically and anatomically. Unless we have specific studies like this, women will always be under-treated and under-represented in the world of cardiovascular health," Grayver told Medical News Today.

Heart disease kills more women each year than all cancers combined — yet experts say misconceptions continue to portray heart attacks as a risk primarily in men.

"In the movies and real life, when a man clutches his chest, we assume he's having a heart attack," said Grayver. "When a woman clutches her chest, we assume it's a panic attack."

These perpetuated misconceptions can mean that even women do not believe they are at risk for a heart attack.

"Women tend to delay how quickly they go to the emergency room when they're experiencing a heart attack," said Grayver. "When they finally go to the hospital, they'll face bias from healthcare professionals next. Their symptoms might be dismissed as indigestion or anxiety."

In men, heart attack symptoms commonly result in chest and arm pain, chest tightness, and the feeling of an "elephant sitting on your chest."

In women, the symptoms are often different: shortness of breath, reflux, nausea, vomiting, and a sensation that your bra might suddenly feel too tight.

Dismissing these subtler symptoms means delaying critical treatment.

"During a heart attack, time equals muscle damage," said Grayver. "The more time that passes, the more damage that occurs, putting women at a higher risk of having significant complications from a heart attack."

"I'm excited there's finally a consideration that our calculators are not accounting for the risk factors that affect a woman's risk of heart attack," said Grayver. "All of these calculators were based on data extrapolated on research from white men."

Grayver points to a variety of non-traditional risk factors that play a significant role in a woman's heart health: estrogen levels, pregnancy complications, autoimmune diseases, family history, depression, and even breast tissue can all be indicators of heart attack risk.

"Estrogen protects your heart," explained Grayver, adding that estrogen relaxes your arteries and promotes the production of "good" HDL cholesterol.

"But estrogen levels drop significantly during menopause and research has already determined that this takes a toll on the heart," Grayver noted.

"When a woman loses that estrogen, she faces a higher risk of developing other conditions, like diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, and heart disease," she added. "There's not a single calculator that takes these into account."

Grayver said complications during pregnancy, such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes, also reveal a woman's risk of experiencing a heart attack, but these details are not routinely considered in cardiology.

"I would also love to see a risk score that takes into account a woman's breast calcium score because research has found an association between breast calcification and predisposition to cardiovascular disease," said Grayver.

Grayver believes mammogram results should be part of the discussion when reviewing a woman's overall health, especially her heart.

"At age 40, women are already encouraged to get routine mammograms and breast exams, but they don't know when they should start seeing a cardiologist," added Grayver. "This conversation should start at the same time as mammograms, and it could lead to getting earlier cardiovascular support."

Grayver hopes this gender-specific evolution within the FRS helps to shift how society and healthcare professionals think about a woman's risk of a heart attack.

"Do not dismiss a woman's symptoms," stressed Grayver. "Do not assume it's anxiety. There should never be a cookie-cutter approach for any patient. Improving the Framingham Risk Score will pave the way for new types of medicine and better healthcare."

---