MORE than 2.6 million people in the UK live with coronary heart disease.
Everyone has a heart which means every one of us is at risk of having heart problems.
February is the British Heart Foundation's Heart Month, which aims to make people a little bit more aware of the problems that can occur and the sort of things each of us could to reduce the risk of ending up in hospital and seeing someone like me.
One of the main things many people worry about is chest pain and whether or not it means they are having a heart attack.
This is a reasonable concern and should be discussed with your GP, if not a cardiologist.
Chest pain can be due to heart problems but there are number of non heart issues that can cause discomfort, such as muscular pain, indigestion, infections, anxiety & blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary emboli).
Chest pain due to heart problems can be due to:
Angina: This is chest pain or shortness of breath which occurs because the fuel pipes to the heart (coronary arteries), are narrower than they should be due to cholesterol building up inside the artery.
Heart attack: This occurs if one of the arteries becomes blocked, as a result a certain area of the heart doesn't receive any blood and the heart muscle starts to die. It depends on the amount of muscle that dies whether the heart can continue working and whether the person survives.
The symptoms of a heart attack normally include chest pain – but not always.
People can feel unwell, short of breath, sweaty and feel they want to vomit. The pain/heaviness can travel into the shoulder, down one or both arms and up into the neck and jaw.
These can all occur with no previous history of heart problems and you should call 999 if you have these symptoms lasting longer than 10 to 15 minutes.
Why do people have heart problems?
We are all obviously aware about the risks of smoking, bad diet and lack of exercise but there are some things we cannot do anything about, such as:
Family history If your parents and siblings have had a heart attack, stents put in or a bypass operation below the age of 65, this will increase your risk. Episodes in other family members, such as grandparents, uncles and cousins, are relevant but not as significant.
High cholesterol Cholesterol is an important component in the body and we could not live without it. However, cholesterol also causes problems by building up in our arteries and causing issues like angina and heart attacks. However, a person's cholesterol level isn't completely due to their diet (although eating deep fried Mars bars every day won't help!). Most of the time it depends on how a person's body deals with the cholesterol. Two people can have exactly the same diet but very different cholesterol levels. But you should try to have a sensible low cholesterol diet, especially if there are concerns about heart problems. A good diet can reduce your cholesterol by up to 30%. If your starting cholesterol is above seven or you have a number of risk factors or have heart problems, you will normally need tablets to help reduce your cholesterol levels.
High blood pressure. Over a period of time, having a persistently high blood pressure results in damage to just about every organ in the body. It puts you at higher risk of having a stroke, can lead to blindness, damages the liver, kidneys and spleen and puts you at higher risk of having a heart attack.
Diabetes Here your body doesn't manage the level of glucose well. High glucose levels for long periods of time can damage every organ in the body, from your brain, eyes, heart, gut, liver, kidneys, immune system, nerves & blood vessels.
Next week: What can we do to prevent a heart attack?
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