“Around 1% of people under 65 years of age have heart failure, but 7% of 75-84 year olds have heart failure and this increases to 15% in people older than 85. It is the most common cause of hospitalisation in patients over 65 years of age.”
MontifioreHeartCenter
The definition of heart failure, it occurs when the heart loses its ability to pump enough blood through the body. Usually, the loss in pumping action is a symptom of an underlying heart problem, such as hypertension and CAD = coronary artery disease. The term heart failure suggests a sudden and complete stop of heart activity but actually the heart does not suddenly or abruptly stop. Instead the way it works is heart failure usually develops over time, years. The heart first compensates with the disease or illness the individual has but, just like a car, after wear and tear the heart goes into decompensating to heart failure due to the heart decline. How serious is this condition? It varies from person to person depending on factors like an individual with obesity & unhealthy versus a person in healthier condition. All people diagnosed or not diagnosed with heart failure lose a pumping capacity of the heart happens as they age but diagnosed with heart failure makes the engine of the body a challenge in doing its function properly. The pump loss is more significant in the person with heart failure and often results from a heart attack (actual scaring to the tissue=death to that tissue area) or from other diseases that can damage the heart. The severity of the condition determines the impact it has on a person’s life. At the other end, extremes, treatment often helps people lead full lives if the person follows the meds ordered by the doctor including the diet and activity/exercise the doctor orders to the patient with heart failure (compliance so important). There are different levels of heart failure but even the mildest form is a serious health problem, which must be treated. If not the pump (the heart) will just get worse in doing its function properly. To improve the chance of living longer in an individual with heart failure, patients must take care of themselves, see their physician (cardiologist) on a regular basis, and closely follow treatments (as ordered) with knowing what heart failure actually to understanding how the disease works (is the failure on the right side or left side? Which in time will effect the other side in time). In knowing what side the failure is on will make you understand what signs and symptoms to expect. Tune in on Monday for Types of CHF and causes. Hope you come back reading more on learning about CHF.
“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.”
From an Irish headstone― Richard Puz, The Carolinian
Losing someone or something (ex. house) you love or care deeply about is very painful. You may experience all kinds of difficult emotions and it may feel like the pain and sadness you’re experiencing will never let up. These are normal reactions to a significant loss. But while there is no right or wrong way to grieve, there are healthy ways to cope with the pain that, in time, can renew you and permit you to move on.
For me personally I lost a dear family member this past week and anyone out their who has had a loss recently–I can relate to what you might be feeling with providing my deepest condolences to you and know you can move on. Like I told on the day of the funeral, to a few people, that Marian is in the next world so much happier being out of misery but it is us on earth in misery but it will heal in time like a wound. For all people effected it will heal in varying degrees. The other thing I stated was she has never left us, she’s with all old and new loved ones in heaven. Those left behind on Earth she saw all the time, some a few to rarely, but will never leave us helping us get through this rough time just like my father was there in 1999 when he died of cancer and never left me. I know she is keeping a close eye on all loved ones she had in her life. As long as she is better off I know that its for the better which overrides any of my misery. Being a RN over 25 years seeing so many types of patients including being a oncology nurse loss of a loved one might be easier for me in dealing with than some but trust me I still have feelings like everyone else in this world. Marian what kills me the most is we didn’t see each other with the family a lot due primarily distance but you will be missed by many. God has his reasons for you to leave this world and unfortunately we couldn’t do more time with each other in this world. I am very thankful I got to meet you in my lifetime.
Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief will be. You may associate grief with the death of a loved one—which is often the cause of the most intense type of grief—but any loss can cause grief, including: Divorce, loss of health, loss of a job, loss of financial stability, retirement, loss of a friendship, loss of a cherished dream (ex. spouses in their own business, planning to get married that never happens, loss of a mortgage on a new home, a loss of a baby, etc…).
The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief. However, even subtle losses can lead to grief. For example, you might experience grief after moving away from home, graduating from college, changing jobs, selling your family home, or retiring from a career you loved.
Grieving is a personal and highly individual experience. How you grieve depends on many factors, including your personality and coping style, your life experience, your faith, and the nature of the loss. The grieving process takes time. Healing happens gradually; it can’t be forced or hurried—and there is no “normal” timetable for grieving. Some people start to feel better in weeks or months. For others, the grieving process is measured in years. Whatever your grief experience, it’s important to be patient with yourself and allow the process to naturally unfold.
Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross pioneered methods in the support and counselling of personal trauma, grief and grieving, associated with death and dying. She also dramatically improved the understanding and practices in relation to bereavement and hospice care. This is quite aside from the validity of her theoretical work itself, on which point see the note, right.
Her ideas, notably the five stages of grief model, the model was first introduced by American Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying, and was inspired by her work with terminally ill patients but simply a significant loss can experience these steps as well. They are: 1.) Denial 2.) Anger 3.) Bargaining 4.) Depression 5.) Acceptance . You go through all these steps in a loss and repeat them and not in order for all. Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to go through each stage in order to heal. In fact, some people resolve their grief without going through any of these stages. And if you do go through these stages of grief, you probably won’t experience them in a neat, sequential order, so don’t worry about what you “should” be feeling or which stage you’re supposed to be in.Kübler-Ross herself never intended for these stages to be a rigid framework that applies to everyone who mourns. In her last book before her death in 2004, she said of the five stages of grief: “They were never meant to help tuck messy emotions into neat packages. They are responses to loss that many people have, but there is not a typical response to loss, as there is no typical loss. Our grieving is as individual as our lives.”
While loss affects people in different ways, many experience the following symptoms when they’re grieving. Just remember that almost anything that you experience in the early stages of grief is normal—including feeling like you’re going crazy, feeling like you’re in a bad dream, or questioning your religious beliefs.
Symptoms of Grief: Shock and disbelief – Right after a loss, it can be hard to accept what happened. Sadness – Profound sadness is probably the most universally experienced. Guilt – You may regret or feel guilty about things you did or didn’t say or do. Anger – Even if the loss was nobody’s fault, you may feel angry and resentful. If you lost a loved one, you may be angry with yourself, God, the doctors, or even the person who died for abandoning you. You may feel injustice has been done to you. Fear – A significant loss can trigger a host of worries and fears. You may feel anxious, helpless, or insecure. You may even have panic attacks. You may feel fears of how do I live without this person. Physical Symptoms – We often think of grief as a strictly emotional process, but grief often involves physical problems, including fatigue, nausea, lowered immunity, weight loss or weight gain, aches and pains, and insomnia.
Coping with grief and loss is one get support. The single most important factor in healing from loss is having the support of other people. do not grieve alone. Connecting to others will help you heal.
Finding support after a loss
Article is all from the Mayo clinic Nov 2012
“Certain factors contribute to the unwanted buildup of fatty deposits (atherosclerosis) that narrows arteries throughout your body. You can improve or eliminate many of these risk factors to reduce your chances of having a first or subsequent heart attack.”
MAYO CLINIC
People who are at risk for the development of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction include those who fall into any of the categories listed below:
-People with a history of heart disease.
-Males.
-Smokers.
-People with high cholesterol.
-People with high blood pressure.
-Obese people.
-People with diabetes.
-People who suffer stress.
-People who live a sedentary life style.
-Heredity is a powerful factor that contributes to early heart disease. Being male is a risk factor, but the incidence of heart disease in women increases dramatically after menopause.
-The risk factors to concentrate upon are those that can be modified. These include cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity, sedentary life style and stress. Cigarette smoking causes many deaths from myocardial infarction and other heart diseases. Smoking contributes to almost half of the heart attacks of women under age 55.
-Stopping smoking can greatly reduce your chances of having a heart attack. Controlling blood pressure can reduce your risk of heart attack. Lowering cholesterol to safe levels through diet and medications can reduce your risk and may even lead to some regression of the plaques already present. Lean body weight and a regular exercise program are helpful.
-If you are diabetic, precise control of your diabetes will help reduce your risk of blood vessel damage due to diabetes. Stress is a risk factor that is common, difficult to quantify and difficult to control effectively over time. Methods of stress reduction include meditation, regular exercise, time management, and a supportive environment.
How is a heart attack diagnosed?
Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack. The chest pain is usually a burning or pressure sensation beneath the mid or upper breast bone. The pain may radiate into the upper mid back, neck, jaw or arms. The pain may be severe but often is only moderate in severity.
There may be associated shortness of breath or sweating. If patients have had angina previously, the heart attack pain will feel the same as their usual angina only stronger and more prolonged. If you have a pain like this that lasts longer than 15 minutes, it is best to be evaluated immediately.
Calling your medic unit is the fastest and safest way to ask for help. If you have symptoms like this that wax and wane, this is often a warning sign that a heart attack is about to occur and prompt medical attention is needed.
Once you are in an emergency room or a doctor’s office an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) will be obtained. This is often helpful in diagnosing a heart attack. Sometimes, however, the test is normal even when the heart injury is present but usually a great diagnostic tool.
When heart cells die, certain enzymes present in heart cells are released into the bloodstream that serve as a marker of heart injury (troponin I and CPK or CK-MB). These enzymes can be measured by blood tests. The amount of enzyme released into the blood stream also helps assess how much heart damage has occurred.
TREATMENT:
The best way to limit the size of a heart attack is to restore the flow of blood to the heat muscle as fast as possible. There are two basic methods to do this.
Because most heart attacks are caused by clots forming within the coronary artery, dissolving the clot quickly will restore blood flow. Drugs called thrombolytics are quite effective.
The sooner these drugs are given, the quicker the blood flow will be restored. An alternative method involves the use of balloon angioplasty.
This involves taking the heart attack victim promptly to the cardiac cath lab in the hospital.
An angiogram is performed to show the blocked blood vessel leading to the heart attack. Then a balloon catheter is placed across the blockage and flow is restored.
Sometimes a stent (a device that assists in holding the blood vessel open) is placed to create a large channel.
Smaller heart attacks, often those not producing significant abnormalities on the ECG are often treated with bedrest and blood thinners such as heparin as well as drugs to reduce the work the heart does.
These heart attacks are called non-transmural myocardial infarctions. Before discharge, x-ray studies of the heart arteries are often carried out to see if angioplasty or surgery will be necessary.
Following thrombolytic (clot reducing) therapy, angiogram are often performed to outline the coronary anatomy to help determine if additional therapy such as angioplasty or bypass surgery is indicated. This may be done during the initial hospitalization or later as an outpatient procedure.
After seeing the disease census 2011 in our country; now the next question would be is there anyway we can decrease diseases in our country overtime, like in a decade or less. Well, all the diseases I covered yesterday are impacted on what healthy habits you practice over a long period of time in your life; than these diseases can be controlled better. Wouldn’t you want to see less disease and more people young and old healthier. I know I sure would after being a RN over a quarter of a century seeing so many diseases and ones that could have been prevented by a society more health oriented than based on their food cravings. We have all heard we need to make sacrifices for certain things in life. Would you think sacrificing fast foods being eaten daily or low glycemic meals in large sizes for all your meals over numerous years that prones you to putting weight on putting you at risk for disease is worth sacrificing? I finally do in my 40’s and it’s not that hard of a sacrifice since it allowed me to remove all toxins from my body from unhealthy fast foods with looking and feeling better. I ate like that and it took me about 6mths to finally get the routine down of eating 6 small low glycemic meals a day with having occasional high glycemic foods (Ex. fast foods to ice cream and more) with doing routine exercise 2-3x a week and practicing these healthy habits based on Dr. Wayne Scott Anderson’s book “Dr. A.’s Habits of Health” on a regular basis not just 2wks or 2mths or when I exercise but for life which so far has allowed me to lose 20 lbs. I hope to lose 20 more to make my goal to 138lbs at 5’7”. If the majority of America lived healthier like this there would be less disease in our country which would put a positive impact on our health care system for all but it would take a decade but we need to start somewhere and today is the best day to start for both us as well as future generations to come. Eating healthier, losing weight down to the ideal body mass index ratio based on your height, exercise routinely (not necessarily meaning an aerobic work out), and practicing healthy habits would increase your chance of living longer healthy and put your life on a journey . Join me and become healthier with spreading the healthyusa.tsfl.com news to make America a healthier country and most importantly yourself. It’s like how we were taught by mom and dad at a young age the better you take care of your car the longer it will last. If taught young and even now at an older age the better we treat ourselves regarding health the higher the odds we will live a longer and more prosperous life, not necessarily as long as Mr. Spock. There is not just one food to eat or one type of exercise to do or one healthy habit to keep you healthy, there’s choices. Click onto my website which is no fee, no charge, no hacking, just letting you check us out to look further in understanding how Dr. Anderson with myself as your health coach could change your health for the better. It allows you to make all the decisions in what you want to do regarding exercise, in what to eat, and what healthy habits you want to practice. We just provide the information and food if you decide you want it. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you for lending me your ear in listening how we can make a better and healthier USA.
“The mental and physical benefits of following a healthy lifestyle are significant, and the bottom line is that consistently healthy choices lead to a longer life.”
Budda
Let’s just start with looking at our health problems recently & the statistics. According to the “Mayo Clinic” in 2011 the top male and female problems vary a little. The health problems that are similar to them are the ones we need to be more concerned about since the ones I will be presenting to you are brought on to many Americans cause of poor health habits (which includes diet with activity). They state that cardiac disease is #1 killer for both men and women. The American Heart Association in 2011 stated that cardiac disease, which does cause many heart attacks and strokes, with killing more people than all forms of cancer combined. Two major factors that would decrease the amount in cardiac disease is people stop smoking and eating HEALTHIER=low fat, low sodium and occasional fast foods, if ever in your diet. Fast foods frequently eaten just don’t cut healthy. Another helpful key is routine exercise. Lung cancer was the cancer that caused most deaths in both men and women. Women are also greatly affected with breast cancer and colorectal cancer, according to the Mayo clinic 2011. To help in decreasing the chance of cancer eat HEALTHY, wear sunscreen, don’t smoke, and get regular cancer screenings. *COPD=Respiratory Diseases classified as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease includes Emphysema and Bronchitis. The National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute in 2011 recommended quit smoking to prevent COPD (esp. Emphysema which is the largest RISK factor in getting it). When you smoke you expand the lung tissue and keep expanding it as you continue smoking. It doesn’t reverse and after years you have difficulty exchanging oxygen (when inhaled) with carbon dioxide (when exhaled) at the lung base & this is because of stretching the lung tissue (called alveoli) so bad. The answer is either QUIT or NEVER smokes and band smoking. The U.S. lung cancer census would go down markedly in a 5-10 years. Diabetes II is a diabetes that you are not born with but can get later in life. It is also a leading killer for both men and women in the U.S. A lot of cases seem to be due to unhealthy eating that goes into obesity that causes the individual to end up with diabetes. This disease causes damage to many organs of the body in time. Due to the high glucose levels (hyperglycemia) it damages the kidney causing for many to be put on hemodialysis 3x/week usually, giving heart disease, neuropathy (down the legs usually), and retinopathy=blindness, in time for many. To prevent this disease losing weight (with staying in a normal body mass index), doing routine exercise, and eating healthy will help a great deal, especially started young. *In 2011 Alzheimer’s disease was the fifth leading cause of death in women and the tenth in men. We really don’t know what the etiology is but there may be a link between this disease and heart disease, including head injuries. What could help this prevent this? One eating healthy, two routine exercise-as simple as walking regularly daily or 2 to 3 times a week and eating healthy to prevent cardiac disease. Also, drive safely with the seat belt on, no texting, and no cell phone to prevent a MVA & hitting your head. Kidney disease in 2011 the ninth leading cause of death for both males and females in the U.S. It can be caused by high blood pressure or diabetes, according to the Mayo Clinic. The American Diabetes Association stressed the importance of keeping your blood sugar under control if you are a diabetic in order to prevent kidney disease if done soon enough. To prevent this disease is the same as cardiac and diabetes prevention (listed above) but the sooner started the better. This ends part 1 and tomorrow I will provide information on what Americans can do in decreasing these diseases, in time.