Wow. Blood pressure is a major contributor to heart disease. It's also a major clue that you may have heart disease. Those are pretty well know facts, but did you know that it's your body's way of trying to fix itself? How about the fact that it makes you feel just awful. Did you know that? Well here's some good news. It's treatable. Pretty darn easily to! Here's what your body is doing.
The pressure in your heart goes up because your arteries get narrow. Your heart still needs to move just as much blood but it has less space to do it. As a result it has to push HARDER! Imagine a water balloon with a pin prick in it. The water comes out in a little stream. If you squeezed the balloon the water will gush out faster. A heart that works that hard becomes a problem. Just imagine how tiring it must be.
High blood pressure starts to damage your arteries. This damage can turn into (brace yourselves) a burst artery, called an aneurysm. It can also make your arteries harden, cause stroke, heart attacks, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, and even death. I told you to brace yourself. That's some pretty awful stuff.
See, your blood pressure goes up because your arteries are skinny to begin with. Pushing the blood faster and harder tends to damage these skinny arteries more. What happens? You guessed it. They just get skinnier! More plaque builds up to "scar" the artery. The artery gets even narrower. Now your heart has to work even HARDER! So now your heart is really working hard. It's double timing it to get the blood where it needs to be. The bad news is that your heart needs blood to. It needs lots of oxygen to work. If it's working hard it will suck oxygen and use it to support itself.
To bad you need that oxygen to. Now your heart will pick itself first so you're left out. Sorry. Guess we didn't need to breathe after all right? All of the sudden people that suffer from high blood pressure find themselves exhausted and short of breath. It's a miserable feeling and it directly points to your heart working to hard. Have you ever wondered why you get out of breath when you work out or get excited? Well the answer is easy. When you're working hard, your heart is doing 10 times more. It's using your oxygen and leaving you a little short. Go figure. It can also make you feel bad by giving you dizzy spells, swelling up your ankles and feet, causing chest pain, changing your vision, giving you leg cramps, and causing you to lose your concentration i.e. forgetful periods.
What's silly to me is that so many people have a blood pressure problem and don't know it or don't treat it. It absolutely does lead to all those big bad things listed above that can kill you but more then that it makes you feel bad! If you have a cold you treat it right? Why not your heart? With the right medication high blood pressure is easily treatable. If you stay on the medication your heart will work less and work better. You'll perk up, feel better, and get stronger. Imagine that!
Now don't get all grumpy with your heart for sucking up all your oxygen and hurting itself worse. It's doing it's best with what you give it. Honestly, it wouldn't be in this mess if you'd been watching it! Luckily for all of us we live in a time when blood pressure can be treated with a minimum of fuss. There's nothing to it. Really. Most of the time your regular doctor can diagnose and treat it so you don't even have to go see someone new. Now isn't that easy? Honestly, I think it took me longer to write this blog post then it should take you to get it checked. No excuses people! Unless of course you WANT to feel bad...
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sometimes it sucks to be a girl.
Yes, really. Being a woman and having heart disease means you have a pretty grim outlook. That being said it's not a death sentence. Us girls just need to get it together and do better. Here's why...
Did you know that women are more likely to die of massive heart attacks? Why? Because we don't go to the doctor! Women are used to pain and tend to brush off the symptoms of a heart attack. When we're having one we don't go to the ER because we're embarrassed or don't think it's that bad. Unfortunately, I'm guilty of this. By the time I made my first ER appearance I had a major problem. Here are some statistics to show you just how common us girls are and why we die more. Scary stuff, but if you know you can avoid it right? Right?!?
1. Women are more likely to die within one year of having a heart attack.
2. Traditionally, women are less likely to get state-of-the-art diagnostic care and treatments.
3. By the time women are treated their heart disease is normally much more advanced then in men. ( Wow. I fell right into that one didn't I?)
4. Women are diagnosed with heart disease just as much as men are. The numbers match people. Your heart doesn't care if you're a girl.
5. Women are scared of cancer. Unfortunately for us, you have much better odds of dying of heart disease then ALL other cancers COMBINED! Wow guys, that's a lot of women. Add up all the women that died of cancer last year. Many, many more died because of their hearts. Sad isn't it?
6. Last but not least, women are more likely to die in heart surgery. Statistically, once we're on the table the odds aren't in our favor for make it off it.
Now this scared me a little. It's also oddly comforting. At least I'm not the only stubborn, heardheaded woman out there who didn't pay attention to her heart. We're all like that! Honestly, I spent more time in one day thinking about my hair then I spent in my whole life thinking about my heart. Pitiful I know, but at least we're all guilty.
Know better, do better right? I myself was a victim of some of these things. Here's how my little list shakes down.
1. I didn't go to the doctor when I had all of the signs of heart problems. It never even occurred to me.
2. Once in the ER I was in bad shape. It took them longer to diagnose a heart attack because I was a young woman who looked healthy. If I was a man in his 50's I would have been diagnosed at the door.
3. They let me eat chicken fingers! Chicken fingers!!! While I was having a heart attack! Once I was admitted, they still didn't want to admit that a woman my age was in that much trouble. They even allowed me to eat a major cardiac no no while they waited for my test results. More then anything this shows that even the best doctors can be surprised.
4. My surgery, a cathe procedure, didn't go well. Once I was diagnosed my heart didn't cooperate at all. I had to have a stent put in because all other attempts to repair my artery failed. It works great now but at the time if scared the hell out of my poor husband.
5. Because I waited and didn't know better, heart disease has a very firm hold on my heart. It's rooted deep and has progressed at an alarming rate.
Well that's the bad news. See how being a woman can directly affect your chances of survival? Scary huh? Now I have some good news. Well, good for me at least. I have amazing doctors. I have a wonderful cardiologist and a whole team of doctors and nurses that run my cardiac rehab program. These guys are rockstars. They don't accept failure and have taken a special interest in me. Thanks guys! I'm also on the biggest, baddest, and best of everything. From the medication I take, to the rehab I'm going through, and even my stent in my heart. Absolutely everything is the best of the best. It's new, it's expensive, and best of all, it works! This DEFINITELY ups my odds. I have an incredible surgeon, state-of-the-art medication and implants (bionic woman anyone?), and I'm getting the after care that's crucial to recovery and prevention. Add to that my age, health, and sheer stubborn nature and you have the chances of me living a long time firmly in my favor.
The moral of the story is for us women to understand the enemy. Quit worrying if you're going to get cancer or hit by a bus. Don't do what I did and ignore what your body is telling you. Go to the doctor. Get your cholesterol level checked. Take care of yourself! I know we're busy bees but if you don't take care of your heart, who's going to take care of your children's? Odds are it will be your husband. Now isn't that embarrassing?
Did you know that women are more likely to die of massive heart attacks? Why? Because we don't go to the doctor! Women are used to pain and tend to brush off the symptoms of a heart attack. When we're having one we don't go to the ER because we're embarrassed or don't think it's that bad. Unfortunately, I'm guilty of this. By the time I made my first ER appearance I had a major problem. Here are some statistics to show you just how common us girls are and why we die more. Scary stuff, but if you know you can avoid it right? Right?!?
1. Women are more likely to die within one year of having a heart attack.
2. Traditionally, women are less likely to get state-of-the-art diagnostic care and treatments.
3. By the time women are treated their heart disease is normally much more advanced then in men. ( Wow. I fell right into that one didn't I?)
4. Women are diagnosed with heart disease just as much as men are. The numbers match people. Your heart doesn't care if you're a girl.
5. Women are scared of cancer. Unfortunately for us, you have much better odds of dying of heart disease then ALL other cancers COMBINED! Wow guys, that's a lot of women. Add up all the women that died of cancer last year. Many, many more died because of their hearts. Sad isn't it?
6. Last but not least, women are more likely to die in heart surgery. Statistically, once we're on the table the odds aren't in our favor for make it off it.
Now this scared me a little. It's also oddly comforting. At least I'm not the only stubborn, heardheaded woman out there who didn't pay attention to her heart. We're all like that! Honestly, I spent more time in one day thinking about my hair then I spent in my whole life thinking about my heart. Pitiful I know, but at least we're all guilty.
Know better, do better right? I myself was a victim of some of these things. Here's how my little list shakes down.
1. I didn't go to the doctor when I had all of the signs of heart problems. It never even occurred to me.
2. Once in the ER I was in bad shape. It took them longer to diagnose a heart attack because I was a young woman who looked healthy. If I was a man in his 50's I would have been diagnosed at the door.
3. They let me eat chicken fingers! Chicken fingers!!! While I was having a heart attack! Once I was admitted, they still didn't want to admit that a woman my age was in that much trouble. They even allowed me to eat a major cardiac no no while they waited for my test results. More then anything this shows that even the best doctors can be surprised.
4. My surgery, a cathe procedure, didn't go well. Once I was diagnosed my heart didn't cooperate at all. I had to have a stent put in because all other attempts to repair my artery failed. It works great now but at the time if scared the hell out of my poor husband.
5. Because I waited and didn't know better, heart disease has a very firm hold on my heart. It's rooted deep and has progressed at an alarming rate.
Well that's the bad news. See how being a woman can directly affect your chances of survival? Scary huh? Now I have some good news. Well, good for me at least. I have amazing doctors. I have a wonderful cardiologist and a whole team of doctors and nurses that run my cardiac rehab program. These guys are rockstars. They don't accept failure and have taken a special interest in me. Thanks guys! I'm also on the biggest, baddest, and best of everything. From the medication I take, to the rehab I'm going through, and even my stent in my heart. Absolutely everything is the best of the best. It's new, it's expensive, and best of all, it works! This DEFINITELY ups my odds. I have an incredible surgeon, state-of-the-art medication and implants (bionic woman anyone?), and I'm getting the after care that's crucial to recovery and prevention. Add to that my age, health, and sheer stubborn nature and you have the chances of me living a long time firmly in my favor.
The moral of the story is for us women to understand the enemy. Quit worrying if you're going to get cancer or hit by a bus. Don't do what I did and ignore what your body is telling you. Go to the doctor. Get your cholesterol level checked. Take care of yourself! I know we're busy bees but if you don't take care of your heart, who's going to take care of your children's? Odds are it will be your husband. Now isn't that embarrassing?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)