What is a heart attack?
Heart Attack, medically termed Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI), is a condition where the heart suffers from lack of blood supply as a result of blockage in one or more coronary arteries (arteries that bring blood to the muscles of the heart) due to cholesterol build-up in the walls of these arteries. Since blood carries oxygen and various essential nutrients that all the body cells, tissues and vital organs need to stay alive and healthy, depriving any part of the body of blood supply causes tissue damage in the organ affected. This is nothing less than suffocating the tissues and cells.
How common is a heart attack?
Heart attack is very common. It is, technically speaking, a epidemic, nay, a pandemic, that maims and kills people all over the world, especially in well-developed countries. In the United States alone, more than 500,000 people die yearly from heart attack and its complications, or in a more dramatic term, one person dies every minute from heart attack. Since you started reading this article a minute ago, one individual has succumbed to a heart attack in North America alone, where more than a million are hospitalized for this illness annually.
Who are prone to having a heart attack?
Almost anyone, even those who appear healthy, given the proper setting, could be a candidate for a heart attack. However, the ones who are more susceptible are those who have a strong family history of heart attack, those who smoke, who do not exercise, overweight, eat red meat (pork, beef, etc), eggs and other high cholesterol food, and those who cannot cope with life’s daily stress.
Do children develop a heart attack?
As a general rule, a heart attack victimizes adult, usually 45 and older, although we have done coronary bypass on a 28-year-old American female, who was a smoker, with very high cholesterol level, a diabetic, a hypertensive (with high blood pressure), obviously genetically impaired. The past couple of decades have witnessed an increase in the number of younger heart attack victims—courtesy of our modern way of life and self-abuse! While theoretically a heart attack can happen to children (with probable genetic defect, etc.), this is a rarity we have not encountered.
Is being a vegetarian a guarantee against heart attack?
No, but the incidence of heart attack is quite low among vegetarians, compared to red meat eaters. All other factors being equal, vegetarians have lower level of bad cholesterol and live a healthier life compared to their carnivorous fellow humans. By the way, eating vegetable salad drowned in high cholesterol dressing defeats the purpose of a low-cholesterol diet. Oil (especially olive oil) and vinegar dressing is a healthier choice for dressing compared to the dozens and dozens of the creamy dressings available today.
How does cholesterol block the arteries?
Cholesterol in the blood, when elevated, thickens our blood consistency. Cigarette smoking is even worse in this regard. As the thick blood flows through the tiny arteries (many of them, like the coronary arteries, are small in caliber, about 1 to 3 mm, similar to the size of a round toothpick), the thick blood acts as paint applied on the inner walls of these tiny arteries. After years of “painting or coating” the inner walls, the caliber of the arteries become narrower and narrower (just like in sewer drains, where dirt adheres to the inside of the pipe and builds up) causing blockages of various severity. This thick blood coating the inner walls of the arteries then “matures” and becomes harder and harder as months and years go by, turning it into hard cholesterol plaques (like calcified dental plaques), hence the term hardening of the arteries.
Is aspirin, a blood thinner, the answer?
No, not by itself. Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) is a blood thinner through its anti-platelet action. Platelets are natural blood component that maintains normal blood homeostasis to prevent spontaneous bleeding. Aspirin affects the integrity of platelets, thus thinning the blood and preventing clotting. But aspirin alone, or in combination with other blood thinners or medications, will not do the trick of preventing hardening of the artery and eventual blockage of arteries. It’s not that easy. Keeping our blood thin and our cholesterol normal take determination and hard work, but the ultimate benefit, which could be a healthier body or the preservation of life itself, is well worth the efforts.
So, what is the preventive solution?
At the present, there is no absolute way to prevent hardening of the arteries, and therefore, heart attack. But there are sufficient convincing medical data to suggest that the following regimen significantly minimizes or retards hardening of the arteries, keeping us “younger.” Sir William Osler, one of the historical giants in medicine, said more than a century ago, “We are as old as our arteries.” It is becoming more and more obvious that he was right on target. If we can only prevent hardening of the arteries in all parts of our body, then we shall not age, our brain, heart, skin, bones and all other organs will remain forever young. But until we find that “fountain of youth,” medical science confirms the following to be most helpful in achieving a healthier body and mind: Proper dieting (eating fish, vegetables, fruits, bran, oat and wheat cereals, and avoidance of red meat, eggs, and other high cholesterol and high carbohydrate foods), drinking a tall glass of water before each meal (at least 8 glasses total a day), taking daily multivitamins with extra Vitamins E, C and B, low-dose (81 mg) aspirin (only under a physician’s supervision), daily exercises at least one hour 4 times a week, abstinence from tobacco, prudent alcohol (a glass or two of red wine with dinner) intake, staying away from salty foods, maintaining normal blood pressure, prophylactic medical check-up once a year after age 40, or younger where needed, and managing stress by positive thinking, relaxation, and by enjoying life and being happy as much as possible every day. To stay healthy, look and feel young, no matter how old or young we are, we need to discipline ourselves. It will not be easy but the dividends are worth it.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: [email protected]
