Diagnosing and Combating Heart Disease

By Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center
Published: February 05, 2010

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Did you know that diseases of the heart are one of the leading causes of death of our citizens in Darlington County? That is why at Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center we want to try to help stop that trend by better educating our citizens and providing necessary diagnostic testing for heart disease such as heart catherizations, vascular studies and nuclear stress tests.

February is National Heart month, and we feel that it is our responsibility as your healthcare provider to bring you these matters of the heart.

How do you fight against the risk of having a heart attack? There is a tremendous amount you can do to decrease your risk of the most common cause of death, and you can start at any age.

You can fight all three of the major risk factors for heart attacks. You can treat hypertension, you can stop smoking, and you can lower your cholesterol with diet, exercise and medicines.

Also, taking one aspirin a day makes the blood less likely to clot and close off the arteries that feed the heart. By using aspirin to prevent these small clots nearly half of all heart attacks can be prevented.

If you have hypertension, beta blockers may be a good choice of medicine. They decrease the chance of having a first heart attack as well as subsequent heart attacks.

Diabetes is a significant factor in heart disease. Diagnosing it early and controlling the blood sugar carefully is important.

Exercise is also important. Exercise lowers the blood pressure, makes the heart more efficient, lowers the cholesterol and helps you lose weight.

Finally, recognizing a heart attack early is of major importance. Medicines can dissolve the clot that is obstructing circulation to the heart muscle, but only if they are given within five to six hours of the onset of symptoms. This means that you must be aware of the signs and symptoms of a heart attack: chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea and a sweaty feeling.

Even an increase or change in angina that has been stable can indicate the early development of a clot.

See your doctor promptly if these symptoms occur. For more information about this topic or any other health related topic, call Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center at (843) 339-2100.