Tag: Blood Clot

Heart Failure

Whenever cardiac conditions develop these conditions, weaken or damage your heart, which leads to heart failure. In a weakened condition, the heart over time can no longer keep up with even the normal demands placed on it. The ventricles may become stiff and not fill properly between beats. The heart ventricles stretch (dilate) to the point that the heart cannot pump blood efficiently throughout your body. The failing pump causes blood and fluid to back up throughout your circulatory system. The circulatory system consists of your lungs, legs, feet and ankles. The kidneys retain excess water and sodium. All this builds up is the congestive part of your heart failure. The lung congestion occurs only with left-sided heart failure with fluid backing up into the lungs. The most common cause of right sided heart failure is left sided heart failure.

When the fluid fills up the left side of the heart the pressure in the lungs passes to the right side of the heart, which then fails. The fluid then collects in the abdomen and lower extremities which all leads up to heart failure. Heart Failure develops quickly after a heart attack. The heart failure can also develop after years of high blood pressure or coronary artery disease. A defective valve may cause heart failure. A heart valve replacement in this case will prevent heart failure. A specialist normally does the surgical part, which is a cardiologist.

Many times people think that such things cause heart failure as smoking, being overweight or eating foods high in cholesterol and fat but there is a condition known as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy were the heart weakens without explanation. This condition will also cause you congestive heart failure if not properly taken seriously.

You might be suffering from if you have heart failure several conditions. These conditions can weaken your heart over time and be present without you being aware that you have the problem. The follow is a brief description of some conditions that affect the heart:

– The most common cause of heart failure is Coronary artery disease. A process called atherosclerosis, which is a build up of fatty deposits in the arteries. This fatty build up causes the blood to narrow a process called plaque, which leaves chronically deprived of oxygen-rich blood pump less vigorously. A heart attack occurs if an unstable plaque not function well it will cause a blood clot in turn completely blocks the blood flow to an area of the heart muscle. This is one of the most common causes of heart failure.

– There are several other reasons that might cause heart failure but we shall discuss the next highest reason for now. High Blood Pressure (hypertension) is the force of blood pumped by your heart through your arteries. When your blood pressure is high then your heart has to work harder causing failure.

Take your cardiologists advice watch your weight and exercise your on the way to a heart healthy way of life.

The Dry Socket

Even though they arent life threatening like bleeding or abscesses, dry sockets can be extremely painful. They are very common following surgery, and happen to be one of the most painful post extraction problems. Dry sockets are more common with removal of the lower teeth than they are with removal of upper teeth. No matter what type of extraction you have performed, a dry socket can occur with any type.

Although there is really no way to prevent a dry socket, you can help to reduce the risk by following your after surgery directions. Even though you may be following the directly precisely, you could still end up with a dry socket. They are known as a quirk of nature, and will make you feel like you are on your death bed – although you really arent. Those who are more at risk to dry sockets include those who smoke following extractions, and those who like to grind their teeth frequently.

A dry socket is a condition where the blood clot that forms after an extraction detaches itself from the socket walls. Sometimes, the clot will dissolve, leaving the bone exposed to food, the weather, and even saliva. Once the bone is exposed, it can become inflamed. The inflammation that occurs is very painful, often times being a deep pain that makes you feel as if you are dying.

If you leave it alone, the dry socket will heal. It will normally take around a month or so, although the pain wont let up during the healing period. If you have a dry socket, youll find that antibiotics and even the strongest of prescription drug wont cure it. An antibiotic will normally cure infections, although a dry socket isnt considered to be an infection.

The best way to fight a dry socket is to go back to your dentist and have him pack the socket. Packing the socket is done without any anesthesia and can be quite painful. It doesnt take long to complete, and it can provide relief from the pain. Once you have a dry socket, you wont care about anything but stopping the pain. The pain can be so intense at times that you will be willing to do anything to stop the pain – even for a few minutes.

Once the socket has been packed, you will be relived from pain for a day or so. If you go back to your dentist, he will remove the old packing, wash the socket out, and place a new packing in. This way, you can get relief from the pain and help the socket heal. Keep in mind that it will take time to heal – and the best way to stop the pain is to do your best to avoid a dry socket at all costs.

Understanding Your Blood Pressure

What is blood pressure? Blood pressure is the force of your blood against the walls of your arteries. Blood pressure consists of two number; a top and bottom number. The top number is the systolic pressure. The bottom number is the diastolic pressure.

Systolic blood pressure is the force of blood in your arteries as your heart beats. If your systolic number is higher than one hundred and forty you have high blood pressure. Even if your diastolic number is not high you can still have ‘isolated systolic hypertension.’ This means only your systolic number is high.

This is more common for older Americans. This pressure usually increases with age whereas diastolic pressure decreases after fifty-five. You might not know if you have isolated systolic hypertension so ask your doctor if you are concerned.

Diastolic blood pressure is the force of blood in your arteries when your heart relaxes between beats. For younger people this is a very important number. The higher this pressure is the more you are at risk. This blood pressure lowers as you get older and your systolic increases. Therefore diastolic is more important in younger people and systolic in older.

Normal blood pressure is less than one hundred and twenty over less than eighty. If your pressure is between the normal numbers and one hundred and thirty-nine over eighty-nine, you have what is called prehypertension. This puts you at risk to develop high blood pressure in the future but it easily preventable.

Hypertension is a name for high blood pressure. Having high blood pressure puts you at risk for heart disease or even strokes. High blood pressure makes your heart work harder than it should and can lead to blindness, kidney disease and even congestive heart failure.

According to statistics high blood pressure killed over fifty-four thousand people in 2004. Statistics also show that twenty-eight percent of people have high blood pressure and aren’t even aware of it. Are you one of them?

You should be aware of the risks of high blood pressure so you can avoid them as best as you can. High blood pressure is a risk for stroke and heart disease. While some risks can be altered or fixed, some cannot. For instance if you use tobacco or are overweight you are at risk for high blood pressure.

You can easily fix this by trying to quit using tobacco and watching your diet to help lose weight. If you have trouble doing either of these on your own, consult your physician. They may be able to prescribe you something or give you useful information to help.

High blood pressure can affect certain parts of your body as well. You might suffer from a stroke. This happens because the high blood pressure can break a weak blood vessel leaving it to bleed into the brain. Also if you have a blood clot blocking a narrow artery, you can also experience a stroke.

Sometimes impaired vision or blindness can occur from high blood pressure. It might eventually cause your blood vessels in your eye to bleed or burst leaving you with blurred or impaired vision.

Your arteries harden as you age, even more so for those in your heart, brain and kidneys. These harder arteries are associated with high blood pressure. When this happens your kidneys and heart have to work harder.

If you have any questions or concerns about your blood pressure ask your doctor. They can answer any questions you might have and find a solution if you do in fact have high blood pressure or might be prone to it. It’s never too late to take care of your body, including your blood pressure.

Smoking Related Health Problems in Adolescents

Smoking is the cause of many diseases and kills about four hundred and forty two thousand people every year in the United States. In spite of anti smoking campaigns and billboard warnings, more and more people are joining the bandwagon of smokers every year. Out of the total number of new smokers, ninety percent are children and adolescents, replacing smokers who have quit or died early due to a disease caused by smoking. Smoking is the top cause of preventable and premature deaths, followed by obesity.

Smoking not only increases the risk of lung disease, but also increases the risk of contracting lung cancer, oral cancer, emphysema, stroke and heart disease. Certain statistics by the American Lung Associations show alarming results. Over five thousand adolescents smoke their very first cigarette every day, out of which over two thousand turn into regular smokers. Presently there are nearly five million adolescents smokers. Twenty percent of the twelfth graders smoke cigarettes regularly.

Smoking has many harmful affects on the health of a human being. It damages the cardiovascular system, causes high blood pressure, increases heart rate, increases the risk of ischemic stroke, increases the risk of formation of blood clot formation, and decreases the oxygen amount which reaches the tissues in the body, reduces coronary blood flow & cardiac output, and damages the blood vessels. Smoking not only affects physical health, but mental health too. It causes psychological distress and depression.

Smoking not only affects the person who smokes but also other people who surround him/her. According to the American Heart Association, nearly thirty five thousand passive smokers die of smoke inhaled from a lit pipe, cigar or cigarette. People who do not smoke directly and inhale smoke from a cigarette smoke by his/her neighbor is known as passive smoker, secondary smoker or indirect smoker. Among the passive smokers, women, children and infants are at a higher risk. Infants and children who are exposed to smoke develop asthma, frequent ear infections and may even experience infant death syndrome. The symptoms experienced by secondary smokers are coughing, excess mucus formation in the airways, chest discomfort, chest pain, and lung irritation. They even feel irritation of throat, nose and eyes. If the passive smokers experiences chest pain, it can be an indication of a heart disease. Sometimes the symptoms of secondary smoking can coincide with the symptoms of other medical conditions. Hence, it is recommended to contact the doctor immediately after the surfacing of the symptoms.

In active smokers, smoking, apart from building up high cholesterol in blood, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure, physical inactivity and diabetes. So smoking cessation will not only reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, which is top of the list, but also decreases the risk by fifty percent of heart attacks and deaths caused by it. But quitting smoking undertakes lots of physical and mental efforts. The person should be made mentally relaxed and stress free. In case of adolescents, they can be asked to exercise regularly and sleep adequately. The American Lung Association and The American Academy of Otolaryngology have developed certain tips which can be of great help to the smokers who are thinking of quitting. The smokers must first be made to understand the reason for quitting. Stress only makes even more difficult to quit smoking, so a stress free period should be chosen to quit. Family and friends encouragement and support are extremely necessary to persuade the smoker to quit. If the support isnt sufficient, smokers can join a smoking cessation program or a support group to attain their goals. A balanced diet is a must, along with lots of rest.

Sometimes taking nicotine replacement products, such as nicotine chewing gum, nicotine inhalers, and nicotine patch, are a great help to smokers who want to quit. By using these products the smokers can satisfy their nicotine craving. The good thing is that these nicotine replacement products can deduct the poisonous gases and tars emitted by the cigarettes. But nursing and pregnant women should consult a doctor before trying nicotine replacement products. For such people non-nicotine alternative is available in the market.

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