Heart is where the Horrors hide

Did you just wish me a 'hale and hearty' life while hiding the 259-plus cardiac symptoms that you chose to ignore? Ah, well, I see. But can we really talk about the hearty part of your life instead of mine? First of all, please don't call me out for including ischemic heart disease or a heart attack under the conditions that are common in women. Because they aren't. Heart attacks are more common in men because, for once, the estrogen in our body decides to stand up for itself like a protagonist who has survived domestic abuse for so long and offers protection against heart disease. But the problem really is that more women develop health attacks after the estrogen wears off, which is after menopause, and it doesn't stop with just that. More women die of attacks than men who have the condition. Not very surprisingly, heart attacks are underreported in women, and studies are also more on men than women to comment on the gender bias exhibited by the condition.

With my eyes closed, I call tell you who all are likely to have heart disease because these factors have been spoken about over and over again all over social media. Those with less estrogen - which are men and post-menopausal women, those with a sedentary lifestyle, those who consume junk foods and alcohol and are smokers, those under constant stress and those with diabetes and hypertension are the victims the predator is hunting for. What really happens in a heart attack is that a cholesterol plug sits in one or more of the blood vessels that supply the heart. The cholesterol plug slowly is joined by cells that are responsible for clotting, and finally, they become an organised duo called 'thrombus' who decide to colonise a territory that doesn't belong to them. As they keep increasing in size, the blood flow to the heart is hampered, and at one point, it is entirely blocked.

People with a chronic block will have long-term pain in the left side of the chest, migrating to the left hand and left side of the jaw and ears. Some people might even have bloating and gastritis symptoms only until they decide to become full-blown. In an acute attack, severe crushing chest pain, vomiting, awareness of one's own heartbeat, sweating, breathlessness and fatigue are likely to happen. 

Heart attack is largely and very effectively preventable by adopting a healthy lifestyle at an earlier age, taking a walk every now and then, consuming a healthy diet rich in fibre, decreasing or quitting alcohol and smoking, controlling the blood sugar levels and pressure, keeping cholesterol levels under check, consuming omega 3 fatty acids, reducing body weight and staying away from stressful environments. Now, the last option may not be very much possible as the condition has recently been found to affect even healthcare workers at an early age. And many a time, heart attacks are sudden and fatal in their first episode.

An ECG and echocardiogram will tell one if they are having a heart attack or not. In long-standing conditions, an angiogram is done to find the location of the block and relieve it by deploying a stent or bypassing the blocked blood vessel. If at any point one is found to be at risk or is having the condition, then they must resort to the former said lifestyle and should be started on cardioprotective agents that reduce the progression of the thrombus. But the most important thing is to get yourself screened for the condition of your heart if you think you have one or many of the risk factors and try avoiding them in the future. Never ever ignore a pain in the chest or upper stomach, and always seek medical attention. Let's also add days to our lives as we add life to our days because we have things to do and blogs to write! 

This post is a part of Blogchatter’s #A2Zchallenge 2024