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Show Don't Gamble With Heart Attack Problem With heart attack, there's no time for second guessing. And there's no such thing as a "safe" gamble you could be dead wrong. "It's crucial to recognize heart attack immediately and get the victim to a hospital emergency room at once. Minutes count, and delay can be deadly," cautions Dr. Alan E. Lindsay, of the Utah Heart Association. ' "When heart attack strikes, too many of its victims believe they're suffering from indigestion in-digestion or heartburn, even after the symptoms and the pain persist for as long as six hours. That's when it can become a fatal mistake." More than 680,000 die from heart attack each year. The average heart attack victim waits three hours before seeking help. As a result, more than half of all heart attack victims die before they reach the hospital. Thousands of lives could have been saved if they had known and heeded the early warning signs of heart attack. What are the early warning signs? Prolonged, oppressive, pain or unusual discomfort in the center of the chest; pain may radiate to the shoulder, arm, neck or jaw; pain or discomfort is often accompanied ac-companied by sweating; nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath may also occur. Sometimes these symptoms subside and then return. Recognition of these symptoms symp-toms is one key to survival. Getting under emergency care a hospital Coronary Care Unit is another. Two-thirds of the country's 7,000 general hospitals have special intensive or coronary care facilities to treat emergency cases and the complications of heart attack. And advances in rehabilitation techniques have shortened the hospital stay for many patients. "Most heart attack victims who survive return to productive lives. Having a heart attack dosen't always mean a person will be disabled for life. Normal work, exercise and sexual activity are possible, based upon the doctor's doc-tor's advice. "Although it's possible to survive a heart attack by knowing the early warning signs and getting immediate emergency care," Dr. Lindsay adds, "it's better to do everything possible to prevent it from happening in the first place." Several risk factors which increase the risk of heart attack at-tack and stroke have been identified. The major ones are high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and excessive cigarette smoking. Others include heredity, a lack of exercise, a diet high in satuated fats and cholesterol and obesity. |
