Boomers Take Heart

1/6/2009

health

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WRITTEN BY Rae Landis

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health ) ) ) take heart

IT FUNCTIONS SO EFFORTLESSLY AND CONTINUOUSLY THAT WE USUALLY forget it’s there—our body’s muscular engine relentlessly pumping our life force through our veins. And while the beating of your heart might not command your daily attention, its consistency and its overall health are certainly not to be taken for granted.

Despite our increasingly health-

The ultimate culmination of any type

conscious society, cardiovascular disease

of heart disease is a heart attack, or a

is still the No. 1 cause of death in the

myocardial infarction, in scientific terms.

United States, with almost 700,000

According to the American Heart

people succumbing every year. That’s

Association, a heart attack occurs when

about 29 percent of all U.S. deaths, and

the blood supply to part of the heart

that statistic isn’t just reserved for the

muscle is severely reduced or stopped.

elderly. In fact, more than 150,000

This reduction or stoppage happens when

Americans killed by cardiovascular

one or more of the coronary arteries

disease each year are under age 65.

supplying blood to the heart muscle is

Worldwide, coronary heart disease kills

blocked, usually due to a buildup of

more than 7 million people each year.

plaque, a fat-like substance. This plaque

And it doesn’t discriminate—heart

can eventually burst, tear, or rupture,

disease is the leading cause of death for

creating a “snag” where a blood clot

American Indians and Alaska Natives,

forms and blocks the artery … which

blacks, Hispanics, and whites, and is the

leads to a heart attack.

second leading cause of death for

We hear about heart attacks all

Asians and Pacific Islanders. Coronary

the time, and most of us associate it

heart disease is the principal type of

with the stereotypical, dramatic

heart disease, but cardiovascular

vision of someone clutching his or

disease also encompasses stroke,

her chest with sudden pain.

high blood pressure, heart failure,

However, many heart attacks

and other conditions like

develop slowly and with milder

arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation,

symptoms, and a major goal of the

cardiomyopathy, and

American Heart Association is to

peripheral arterial

educate the public to recognize

disease.

those symptoms more quickly.

“

Despite our increasingly healthconscious society, cardiovascular disease is still the No. 1 cause of death in the United States.

”

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Immediate medical care is crucial in

Tobacco use (more than 46 million

any coronary event, and the sooner

American adults are daily smokers) and

someone realizes the signals of a heart

excessive alcohol consumption increase

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attack, the sooner they can dial 9-1-1.

the risk of heart attack, as does poor

Most people know that chest pain

diet, physical inactivity, and obesity,

and discomfort are symptoms of a heart

which is a growing cause for concern in

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attack, with pain levels ranging from

and of itself—66 percent of adults are

slight to intense. However, discomfort in

overweight and more than 31 percent

other areas of the upper body can also

are considered obese.

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occur, such as in the arms, back, neck,

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that coronary heart disease costs more

shortness of breath with or without

than $258 billion per year in terms of

chest pain, and they may also experience

health care services, medications, and

nausea, lightheadedness, or breaking out

lost productivity.

in a cold sweat.

Interestingly, although the most

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There is hope, however: the American Heart Association’s Heart

common heart attack symptom for both

Disease and Stroke Statistics update for

genders is chest pain, women tend to

2009 shows that death rates from heart

experience these other symptoms more

disease have begun to decline, from a

often—particularly shortness of breath,

death rate of 278.9 per 100,000 people

nausea and vomiting, and back or jaw

in 2005 down to 262.9 in 2006. From

pain.

1995 to 2005, death rates from

Though cardiovascular disease can

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With those figures, it’s no wonder

jaw, or stomach. Victims can experience

cardiovascular disease declined 26.4

be a hereditary condition, there are

percent. There is a

numerous lifestyle choices we can make

long way yet to go,

to reduce our risk. Existing conditions

but efforts to

such as high cholesterol and blood

increase awareness

pressure, as well as diabetes, elevate the

might be beginning

chances of developing heart disease.

to pay off. ) ) )

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