Over the years, I've lost walking friends due to heart attacks, some of them even while they were walking. While walking and other moderate intensity exercise can reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke, it is only a reduction, not an elimination of risk.
It is critically important for walkers of every age to know the warning signs of a heart attack or stroke and get immediate medical attention.
The biggest challenge is to overcome your embarrassment. Nobody wants to be labeled a hypochondriac. Men seem especially loathe to get check-ups and work-ups for heart disease.
At the very least, if you know the symptoms and how to perform CPR and use an AED, you may be able to get a friend or loved one to seek medical care before it is too late.
Stop walking and seek immediate care if you have any of these:
* Tightness in your chest and possibly extending into your left arm or neck.
* Palpitations
* Chest pain or pain in your arms or jaw, often on the left side
* Wheezing, coughing, or other difficulty in breathing.
* Severe shortness of breath
* Dizziness, faintness or feeling sick to your stomach
* Excessive perspiration
* Cramps, severe pain or muscle aches
* Severe, prolonged fatigue or exhaustion after exercise.
* Nausea.
Seconds count when you are having a heart attack.
* Immediately call 911 or the other emegency number for your area to bring an ambulance with a defibrillator. Swiftly getting a unit to you is the single most important factor in surviving the heart attack. Seconds count.
* AED (automatic external defibrillator): These are simple portable defibrillators with simple instructions on the unit which anyone may use. Programs are underway to stock them in all public places. Many malls and fast food restaurants, as well as police and fire units will have them. Current Red Cross CPR classes will cover how to use them. If your distress happens in or near a mall, have someone ask for the AED.
* Does it happen? Yes, in 1999 I was at two walking events where friends had heart attacks. These shocking events are a reminder to all of us to be trained in CPR and to know where the nearest phone is to call 911.
* Summon help from those around you. Better to risk embarrassment than to die.
Normal signs of exertion
* Increased heart rate, you may feel or hear your heart beat.
* Increased breathing rate, but should be able to carry on a conversation.
* Mild to moderate sweating.
* Muscle aches and tenderness that might last a day or two as you get started.
P.S. protect your heart. Eat Vitamin C and Vitamin D rich foods.
source
The symptoms are quite obvious for a heart patient but since they collide with some other diseases as well sometimes it is a case of confusion and ill diagnosis.
ReplyDeleteBreast Augmentation Los Angeles