Tag: heart attack

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.

Manage the Pain of Osteoarthritis

Manage the Pain of Osteoarthritis
Kamau Austin

Manage the Pain of Osteoarthritis

The Mayo Clinic refers to osteoarthritis as a “wear and tear”
condition that effects people as they age. It is a degenerative
disease and is the most common form of arthritis. It is one of
the most common causes of disability among adults. More than 20
million people in the United States have the disease.
Researchers project that in the next 25 years over 20% of
Americans-beyond the age of 65 will be at risk for
osteoarthritis.

Today, more than half of the population age 65 or older would
show x-ray evidence of osteoarthritis in at least one joint.
Both men and women have the disease with more men getting the
disease before age 45, and more women getting the disease after
that point.

Osteoarthritis may affect any joint in the body and it is
characterized by a breakdown in the cartilage between the
joints. The most common joints affected are the hips, knees,
lower back, fingers and feet.

Osteoarthritis often develops slowly and quite often there are
no symptoms. A person affected with the disease may not know
that they have it until it is revealed during a routine x-ray.

People with osteoarthritis may have one or more of the following
symptoms.

– Pain in a joint during or after use; or after a period of
inactivity, such as after a night’s sleep. – Pain in a joint
during a change in weather. – Swelling or pain in a joint, after
use. – Bony lumps on the end or middle joints of the hands –
Loss of flexibility

Interestingly, the first year of onset of the disease may bring
acute pain, that then fades within a year or so of its
appearance. This is especially true of osteoarthritis of the
fingers.

The exact cause of osteoarthritis is not known but some
researchers believe that we are more susceptible to
osteoarthritis as we age. It may be caused by a combination of
factors, including being overweight,aging, a previous joint
injury, heredity and muscle weakness.

The pain of osteoarthritis can range from that of a minor
inconvenience for some sufferers, to chronic and debilitating
for others. In cases where pain is severe, joint replacement
surgery may be considered.

There is no cure for osteoarthritis, and treatment is geared
towards reducing pain and increasing joint. Treatment may
include medication, physical therapy, occupational therapy and
self-care.

Pharmaceutical medication is used to treat the pain and may
include, over the counter topical pain relievers that are rubbed
into the skin at the effective joint, NSAIDs and acetaminophen
taken internally to help with pain.

Prescription medications may include COX-2 inhibitors such as
Celebrex may be considered for relieving pain, But both Celebrex
and the recently removed from the market durg, Vioxx, are now
linked with some rather serious side effects including, high
blood pressure, and an increased risk of stroke and heart attack.

For some people, a side effect of living with chronic pain is
depression. Since disturbances in sleep may accompany
osteoarthritis, anti depressants may be prescribed because they
can reduce chronic pain a well as help to alleviate sleep
disturbances.

From time to time a doctor may suggest that an osteoarthritis
patient receive injections of corticosteroid, which when
injected into the joint space can offer some relief from pain
and inflammation.

Surgical procedures can provide pain relief and relieve
disability that may result from the deterioration of the joints.
These procedures may include joint replacement; repositioning
bones and fusing bones.

The surgical procedures and prescription medications may be
overkill in the case where the osteoarthritis sufferer has only
mild pain and inflammation. There is much that the mild or
occasional sufferer can do to alleviate their pain ontheir own.

Life-style changes can help the condition so dramatically that
it is sometimes the only treatment the occasional suffered will
need.

Some things that you can do to help with the pain and stiffness
are: – Exercise regularly – Control your weight – Eat a healthy
diet – Apply heat to alleviate pain – Choose appropriate
footwear to help support your back and hip joints. – Apply cold
for occasional flare-ups – Practice relaxation techniques

In all cases osteoarthritis sufferers can benefit from making
some changes in how they approach everyday activities. – Arm
yourself with information and a “can do” attitude: Work with
your health care professional to take control of your treatment
and actively manage your arthritis. – Make use of a brace or
cane if needed. A brace can greatly help to support a painful
knee. And walking with a cane can help support an ailing hip.

– Keep activity within your limits. Osteoarthritis can make you
prone to fatigue and muscle weakness. Take a short nap or rest
when you fell tired. – Avoid straining your finger joints. Use a
kitchen tool or hot water to help with opening jars and bottles.
Kitchen centers and hardware stores are beginning to carry a
supply of kitchen aids to help with simple tasks that may be
difficult for osteoarthritis sufferers.

– Take breaks. Periodically relax and stretch. – Maintain good
posture. Good posture more evenly distributes your body weight
making it easier to support.

Regardless of the approaches that people take to dealing with
their osteoarthritis almost everyone can benefit from the use of
natural supplements. Glucosamine. is a naturally occurring
substance that has been shown to be extremely effective in
treating osteoarthritis.

Phosoplex is a natural supplement takes glucosamine one step
better by combining it with Bio Cell Collagen II, a
concentration of many elements including glucosamine.

The makers of Phosoplex have a valid point when they tell us
“…If we consume only single elements involved in the complex
process of keeping our joints and other connective tissue
healthy we could only expect partial effectiveness.” Phosoplex
with its full spectrum of essential elements provides broader
nutritional support aiding the overall health of individuals
joints.

More information about Phosoplex can be found at
http://www.bodestore.com/phosoplex.html

About the author:
Kamau Austin is a health and fitness enthusiast and advocate. He
is also the publisher of … www.healthandfitnessvitality.com .
He writes on a regular basis on timeless health and fitness tips
at the Fit After Forty Blog. See more useful health and fitness
news and tips at…
http://www.healthandfitnessvitality.com/blogs/fitnessblog.htm

What New Therapies for Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure?

Heart disease is one of the deadliest killers in the world to date. Congestive heart failure, a condition found secondary to many major cardiac diseases, possesses its own high mortality rate. Fifty percent of those diagnosed with congestive heart failure will die within the five following years. Scientists and researchers are struggling to understand the exact mechanisms of the disease, and to find a cure.

Congestive heart failure results as the cells in the heart die or become non-functioning due to an event such as a myocardial infarction (a heart attack) or ischemic heart disease. Whatever the cause, the heart is subsequently unable to pump blood adequately throughout the body, resulting in the blood pooling in the organs and fluid building up in and around the lungs as sodium is unable to be properly excreted, causing the dyspnea that is the classic symptom of congestive heart failure.

Clinical research is targeted at both the treatment of the disease and the possibility of repairing the damaged cells in the heart. Current research is underway to test new medications that would assist in vasodilation, as well as a calcium inhibitor that would not result in the higher incidence of cardiac arrhythmia seen with the medications currently on the market.

In the age of natural medicine, the power of the mind has been invoked in clinical trials to use meditation and relaxation techniques to combat the stress on the heart that can be the breaking point for patients with heart failure. Stress has been shown to negatively affect the body’s blood pressure, forcing the heart to work harder and placing an undue amount of pressure on an already weakened muscle. The theory lies in the belief that by learning to maintain a low level of mental stress the heart will be less stressed and therefore less likely to fail completely, and the patient can be given a better prognosis.

Alongside the return to natural, holistic methods of treatment is an incredible advancement in clinical technology that was not available twenty or thirty years ago. Scientists claim to have identified a set of altered genes that can make an individual more disposed to suffer from congestive heart failure and are using their current knowledge of genes and the benefits of gene therapy to attempt to reverse the effect. In addition, medications to tamp down on the genes’ activities, such as beta blockers and alpha-2 agonists are already available and being used in treatment programs.

Also being explored is the possibility of using stem cells, the body’s pluripotent progenitors, to assist in reparation of the damaged heart tissue. Clinical trials showed that patients suffering from congestive heart failure responded very favorably to an injection of their own stem cells into the heart, although the exact means by which this causes improvement is as yet unknown. It is suspected that these cells either facilitate the growth of new vessels in the heart or act as beacon, attracting the body’s own healing cells to the site of the damage and stimulating repair.

The possibility of actually growing healthy tissue from embryonic stem cells to be transplanted is also being explored, although the controversial nature of the use of embryonic stem cells due to the necessary destruction of the embryo makes this questionable in the foreseeable future. Scientists have determined that adult stem cells simply cannot provide an adequate number of new cells to meet the needs of patients who have suffered heart failure.

Heart failure is incredibly dangerous because the body cannot reproduce the dead tissue cells in the heart; however, with modern advancements it is the great hope of researchers everywhere to one day find a cure.

Help With Quitting Smoking

Enhancing the quality and length of your life by quitting smoking is a worthwhile effort. It is definitely not an easy task, but it can be accomplished with time and patience. To quit smoking successfully, finding out what your options are. Knowing where to go for help is a wise first step. Quitting smoking is the best move that you can make for your health and the health of all of those around you. Just about everyone knows by now that smoking causes diseases that shorten your life or those that may even end it. Diseases such as lung cancer, throat, esophagus, bladder, and kidney, and pancreas cancers are some horrible things caused by smoking for a start. Not to mention some leukemia, stomach, and cervix cancers, and newly added by the Surgeon General is pneumonia. People who smoke are more than three times as likely to die due to heart attack as non smokers. Smoking is a major risk factor for a disease that narrow the blood vessels that transport blood to the limbs and muscles called peripheral vascular disease as well as the disease that causes some strokes.

If thats not enough to convince you to stop smoking, lets look at your appearance. Premature wrinkling of skin, chronic bad breath, discolored fingernails and hair, and an increase risk of macular degeneration a leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Smoking over the age of thirty-five if you are a woman can put you in a high risk group for stroke, heart attack, and blood clots of the legs, low birth weight of babies and miscarriages. But the hopeful portion of this message is that if you decide to quite regardless of how long youve smoked or how much, quitting will help you to live longer. In as little as twenty minutes after quitting smoking the heart rate and blood pressure drops and in one to nine months following quitting smoking, circulation in your hands extremities and lung function increases. Shortness of breath decreases and your lungs begin to function properly, cleaning the lungs and removing mucus that causes infection. Fifteen years of non smoking and your risk of heart disease is that of non smoking persons. These benefits can be obtained from quitting smoking even if you are suffering from a smoking related illness already. Smoking is less socially accepted now more than ever. Smoking bans have been placed in just about every workplace in the nation along with airports, public buildings. Even friends may insist that you not smoke in their houses or cars. Some people may even find dating more difficult because of a bad smoking habit. So the social impacts of not smoking will probably change your life for the better if you quit.

If you have a family, that is another great motivation to quit smoking. The main reason is that the secondhand smoke could pose serious health problems for others who do not deserve such things. You should also consider what kind of role model you are being to any small children that you live with, whether they are your own kids, siblings, nieces and nephews, or any other relation. You may be living with kids who look up to you as an authority figure, and if you teach them that smoking is alright you will feel very guilty later in life.

Some of the many new products used to help an individual to stop smoking are really very effective. Counseling services, reading materials, medicines, and patches are all widely available and have produced some amazing results. Educational materials alone may be the best beginning start to an attempt to quit because once you know what kind of damage you are doing to your body the prudent and reasonable person will definitely see that it is the very best thing to do. However, it has been documented and researched that the highest success rates occur when a combination of methods are used simultaneously. Take the time and do it for yourself and your loved ones, quit for life.