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Show Heart attacks do not justify fears Within the next 24 hours, 4,000 to perhaps 10,000 American Amer-ican men and women will suffer suf-fer heart attacks, their first or a reoccurcnce. It's no wonder that a twinge of chest pain can trigger chilling chil-ling fear. We fear not only sudden death, but also that just one attack means an end to normal family and social life and work, a sentence to invalidism. better health than they enjoyed en-joyed before, by changing habits which had not been health -promoting, or by finding find-ing new interests in a wider world. Once a heart attack, is another an-other inevitable? Hundreds of thousands of heart patients attest the answer, an-swer, a hopeful "NO!" They live out normal lifespans. It's not uncommon for a man of 60 at the time of his first attack to live to 80 or 90. This fear is unjustified, as shown by example of former President Johnson and the late Dwight D. Eisenhower and many hundreds and thousands thou-sands of men and women. Over 60 per cent of people do survive sudden, acute heart attacks, Four out of five resume re-sume normal living and return re-turn to work, although sometimes some-times at less strenuous jobs. If you are concerned about your heart, or have chest pains or other symptoms, a checkup and a frank discussion with your doctor frequently brings good news: the pains don't in-volve in-volve your heart at all. Indigestion, spasms of the esophagus, tightness of the muscles from nervous tension, arthritis, gallbladder disease, or certain infections and other conditions can be responsible, exonerating your heart entire- iy- With good treatment, if a heart attack does come, years of productive, happy life can lie ahead. Research is producing produc-ing more refinements and techniques to increase the ratio rat-io of good recoveries. The road back to health can follow various byways, suited to the individual case, but some general guidelines apply ap-ply to most patients. Complete and total rest in bed is the first immediate rule, to take all unnecessary burdens bur-dens from the stricken heart. Just like an injured muscle, the heart needs time to repair itself. With time, scar tissue forms in the wounded area. With time, other arteries can distribute nourishment to the afected area. Most heart specialists immediately im-mediately put patients on a low-calorie diet, since excessive exces-sive eating and weight add to the heart's task. If serum cholesterol is high, the physic, ian will most likely prescirbe a diet to bring it down. He most likely will sjiy no smoking, or no cigarettes, .i Most specialists, prescribe suitable exercise and activity after the heart has recovered. , The man doing physical work is frequently back at his job, as is the businessman, the lawyer, or salesman. Every patient should talk frankly with his doctor about his progress, his prospects, the date when he can go back to work, and resume hobbies or sports, or sex relations. Many heart patients find |