Heart health: What you know can help save you
Learning about heart attacks may save your life.
Here are some things to consider:
1 You might not feel any chest pain. The heart itself doesn't have pain receptors. But nerves coming from the heart may trigger nerves in, say, the chest or arm. Or not. Instead, you may notice unusual or extreme fatigue, atypical or prolonged disturbances in your sleep patterns, shortness of breath, indigestion or even pressure, tightness, aching or burning in your upper back, neck, shoulders, arms or even in your jaw or throat.
2 Cholesterol doesn't tell you much. Just one cholesterol number - total cholesterol - doesn't tell you everything you need. Better to know how much is artery-clogging lousy LDL (should be less than 100) and how much healthy HDL you have (should be higher than 50).
3 Cholesterol isn't the only number to watch. High blood pressure is a huge heart-attack risk factor, and is even more powerful than LDL. Your blood pressure should be 115/76 or lower.
4 Women are as vulnerable as men. The risk of dying from heart disease isn't just a guy thing.
5 What's on your mind really matters. Anxiety is hard on your heart. So hard, in fact, that highly anxious people with heart disease are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or die compared with their more mellow-minded peers.
