Neither myself or my co-author Brenda Sue are physicians, therefore we cannot in any way shape or form make any type of medical diagnosis, nor can we prescribe any treatments or therapies for what ails you. We are however, American Fitness Professionals and Associates certified Nutrition and Wellness consultants. Our professional mission as such is to provide you, the reader, with comprehensive healthy nutrition practices, along with strategies to improve your nutrition for healthy weight loss and improvement of your health and well being. We are here to give you the essential tools that are necessary in order to hopefully avoid many of today’s nutrition related ailments that so many suffer such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, inflammation, heart disease, cancer and more. Once you are down with any of these ailments, you need to always consult with your physician for your individual best course of treatment. We can answer your nutritional questions, however, for us to best serve you, you cannot omit important information such as sickness, medications, surgeries and other medical procedures you may have recently received.
We feel it is not only important for you to understand good nutrition and fitness practices, but also that you know and understand risk factors of many nutrition related ailments. Poor dietary habits lead obviously to obesity, but they also lead to an elevated risk of heart disease, congestive heart failure, heart attack and cardiac arrest.
Sadly, too many people not only do not know the warning signs of heart attack and cardiac arrest, they also do not know there is a difference. Spotting the signs early is imperative to saving your life. And with so many of our readers being new to healthy dietary habits and physical fitness, I want to take the time to inform you. You never know when heart attack or cardiac arrest will strike, and your odds of suffering either are much higher when you are obese.
- Heart attack happens when a problem occurs with our circulation. It happens when blood flow is stopped by a blocked artery.
- Cardiac arrest is essentially an electrical problem that occurs when our heartbeats are thrown off and our hearts are failing to pump efficiently. This can lead to immediate death if not treated.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA) when a person is in cardiac arrest, they will be either gasping for air or they will have stopped breathing. If you have never seen this, I assure you it is not pretty. I strongly encourage folks to get trained in CPR as there may be little time to spare for your loved one who is laying there on the floor quite possibly near death’s door.
If you are paying attention to your health and well being, there are often symptoms of cardiac arrest you might notice up to a few months before it happens to you. By having a little knowledge of these symptoms you could easily save your own life or that of a loved one.
- Chest pain. Chest pain, tightness or discomfort are the most common warning signs of cardiac arrest. You might feel as if you have an elephant standing on your chest. This pain is a result of not having sufficient oxygen circulating in your blood and not reaching your heart. This pain is likely to begin in your left arm and last anywhere from a few moments, hours or even days.
- Radiating pain. You may also suffer pain in other areas of your body that you may not associate with being a heart issue. These would include your back, shoulders, neck, throat, stomach, even your teeth and jaw. These symptoms are usually suffered by women more so than men.
- Shortness of breath. If you are normally able to easily climb stairs, jog or run, perform highly physical activities and then find yourself unable to catch your breath, this is not a good indication in any way, shape or form. Research has shown that people who experience this symptom have a higher risk of dying from heart disease than people who do not experience any of these symptoms, especially those who suffer chest pain.
- Excessive sweating. If you do not normally sweat very much and then find yourself drenched in it, you could very well have a heart issue. When your heart cannot pump blood through clogged arteries, your body responds by sweating. Women, if you are going through menopause and are experiencing excessive sweating, get checked out by your doctor if you have not already done so. This could be a heart issue instead of hot flashes.
- Flu like symptoms. Nausea, fatigue, weakness, vomiting, lightheadedness, stomach pain and dizziness are all signs of heart issues, especially in women. Harvard Health studied 500 women with a history of heart issues, and found that 71% experienced extreme tiredness the month before their heart attack. Heart diseases are the main cause of death for women yet many still view it as more of a mans issue and ignore the warning signs and symptoms.
- Sense of impending doom. A lot of the time when people begin suffering the symptoms of cardiac arrest, they will go into denial. Hell, who has time to go to the doctor for a nagging pain, right? A lot will even ignore their chest pain too. They might assume their discomfort is only from a bad case of gas. Yet, despite their open denial, your loved one could actually be terrified of what is happening in their body.
If you suffer from any of these symptoms, get yourself into your doctor’s office right away. Think of this, if you are terrified of what could happen, you had damn well be terrified of what will happen if you do not get yourself checked out. If you avoid going to your doctor because of the cost, think how much it will cost if you suffer cadiac arrest and survive, This will be quite possibly much more expensive than preventative measures. If expense is an issue to you, then think what your funeral is going to cost your family along with any possible emergency hospital care you incurred when doctors were attempting to save your life.