A heart-to-heart about heart disease

Taking care of your heart is no longer a job reserved for your doctor – your heart’s health is in your hands and if you take care of your heart it will take care of you for the rest of your life.

According to pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, a 130 South Africans experience a heart attack on an average day, and while some survive, some do not. Cardiovascular disease is now a major cause of death in our country, as it claims more lives than all forms of cancer combined. The good news is that most of the time, death and heart attacks can be avoided by understanding and managing the risk factors for coronary artery disease.

Thursday, 29 September is World Heart Day. The day is used to raise awareness and highlight the seriousness of heart disease for all South Africa’s population and assist them to take their heart health into their own hands.

What does a heart attack feel like?

There is heavy pressure, tightness, unusual discomfort or crushing pain in the centre of the chest. This may spread to the shoulders, arms, neck or jaw.

The symptoms may last for more than 15 minutes, then stop or weaken, and then return. They could be accompanied by sweating, nausea, faintness or shortness of breath and the patient’s pulse could be rapid or weak.

“Undiagnosed and uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are very common in South Africa,” said Dr Shanil Naidoo, Medical Director of Boehringer Ingelheim. “But lifestyle changes and proactive health management can pay enormous dividends, not only in terms of quality of life but also in terms of avoiding the trauma of a heart attack.”

What to do if you experience or witness a heart attack

• If unexplained chest pain lasts for more than a few minutes, do not try to figure out the cause – call an ambulance and state that you are dealing with a suspected heart attack.

• If the ambulance is delayed, use private transport to get to the emergency department of the nearest hospital. When you arrive tell the staff that this is a suspected heart attack.

• If you have been trained in CPR and find yourself near a person who loses consciousness due to symptoms similar to those of a heart attack, perform chest compressions at a rate of about 100 per minute.

Some important things to keep in mind:

• Women may experience different symptoms to men as they have more pronounced nausea, dizziness and anxiety.

• Heart attacks can be silent, with no signs or symptoms, so be alert – all the time.

“Two years ago, South Africa was included in a study on hypertension in low and middle income countries that showed that 78 per cent of South Africans aged 50 years and older were hypertensive. Only 38 per cent of them were aware of their condition, and a mere 7 per cent had their hypertension under control.”

While we cannot change our genetic inheritance or turn back the clock, it is important to recognise when we are at an elevated risk of heart disease and be extra disciplined about healthy lifestyles and regular medical check ups.

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