Sep 11

Heart Health: Myths versus Reality

Posted in Advice, New by Echelon Health

The British Heart Foundation’s research concluded that there are ‘7.6 million people living with heart and circulatory diseases in the UK’. With someone dying from these diseases every 3 minutes, and someone being admitted to hospital due to a stroke every 5.

Misleading or false health information has an adverse effect on people’s emotional well-being, deteriorates communication between patients and healthcare providers, erodes good habits, and deters individuals from following treatment and lifestyle recommendations.

Building on The British Heart Foundation’s Article, this blog will be looking at common myths about heart disease and what the reality actually is.

The Myths and Reality:

Heart disease is a men’s disease

The reality is that in the UK, women are twice as likely to die from coronary heart disease, the leading cause of heart attacks, as from breast cancer. Every year, over 30,000 women are hospitalised in the UK due to a heart attack. Despite this, it is still not always recognised as a significant issue for women.

The typical symptoms of heart attack, like chest pains, are experienced by both men and women. However, women are more likely to go through less common symptoms like indigestion, shortness of breath, and back pain, often without the typical chest discomfort.

Cardiac arrest and heart attack are the same thing

A cardiac arrest and heart attack are not the same thing.

A heart attack happens when a coronary artery becomes blocked, cutting off the heart muscle’s essential blood supply. Without sufficient oxygen, the heart muscle starts to die if the blockage isn’t treated. Having a heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest in some cases. This occurs because a heart attack can lead to a dangerous heart rhythm, potentially resulting in cardiac arrest.

Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops pumping blood around the body and a person stops breathing normally.

A difference is that when experiencing cardiac arrest, the person will be unconscious, and CPR is needed. Whereas with a heart attack, the person will probably be conscious. In both cases, it is an emergency and 999 needs to be called.

Heart failure is when your heart stops beating

Heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump blood effectively throughout the body, typically due to the heart becoming too weak or stiff. This does not mean the heart has stopped working, but that it needs some support to work better.

It occurs as the result of conditions affecting the heart at the same time. Conditions like coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, conditions affecting the heart muscle, heart rhythm problems, damage to heart valves, congenital heart disease (birth detects) can lead to heart failure.

Typical symptoms of heart failure include breathlessness after activity or even when at rest, tiredness, feeling lightheaded and swollen legs. These symptoms can develop gradually (chronic heart failure) or quickly (acute heart failure).

I’ll know if I’m having a heart attack because I’ll have chest pain

Although chest pain or discomfort is a typical symptom of a heart attack, the warning signs can be more subtle, particularly in women. These warning signs include shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, and pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the jaw, neck, or back.

As mentioned above, women can experience indigestion, shortness of breath, and back pain which are less common symptoms and can occur without noticeable chest pain.

Smoking only affects the lungs, not the heart

Nearly every organ in the body can be harmed by smoking, including the heart. Smoking is a major risk factor for various diseases, notably heart disease. Quitting smoking lowers the risk of heart disease as quitting reduces the risk of developing atherosclerosis and blood clots. If an individual already smokes and has heart disease, quitting lowers the chances of cardiac death, heart attacks and other disease affected by smoking.

Heart disease runs in my family, so there’s nothing I can do to prevent it

While a family history of heart disease can increase your risk, it doesn’t mean you are certain to develop a heart condition. There are different preventative measures that an individual can make to reduce their risk.

Preventative Measures

Healthy balanced diet

The NHS recommends a low-fat, high-fibre diet of whole grains and 5 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables a day. Salt intake should also be limited to no more than 6g or 1 teaspoonful, as a large amount of salt can increase blood pressure. Foods that contain saturated fats, such as fatty cuts of meat, butter, cream, hard cheese, can increase the bad cholesterol levels in the blood. A balanced diet includes unsaturated fats, which are said to increase the good cholesterol and reduce blockages in arteries, like oily fish, nuts and seeds and avocados. Another suggestion is to limit sugar intake, as excessive sugar can raise the risk of diabetes, which in turn significantly increases the likelihood of developing coronary heart disease.

Exercise

Regular exercise improves the efficiency of your heart and circulatory system, reduces cholesterol levels, and helps maintain healthy blood pressure. The risks of having a heart attack can be reduced through exercise. Exercises like walking, swimming and dancing, keep your heart healthy.

Giving up smoking

As mentioned above, quitting smoking is important in reducing the risk of heart disease. Having a heart-healthy lifestyle involves not smoking, as well as other preventative measures included in this list.

Reducing alcohol consumption

There is a strong correlation between frequently consuming excessive amounts of alcohol and high blood pressure. Excessive consumption can lead to serious health conditions, like cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle is damaged and no longer functions as effectively, and arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms).

Lowering your blood pressure

Blood pressure can be lowered through limiting an individual’s salt intake and eating foods low in saturated fat. Other ways to lower blood pressure include managing stress and regular exercise. High blood pressure (hypertension) can lead to heart damage and cardiac enlargements, making heart failure, arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death and a heart attack more likely.

Heart Health At Echelon Health

To get a better understanding of your heart health, a health assessment is useful to identify early signs of life-threatening diseases, like heart disease.

A heart health assessment is designed to evaluate the condition of your cardiovascular system. It’s particularly recommended for individuals with a family history of heart disease, those with cardiac risk factors, or anyone who is concerned about their heart’s well-being.

A CT Heart scan (Calcium Score) is used to check your heart arteries for calcium deposits, which are the earliest indicators of atheromatous disease. This test allows for the visualisation of plaque buildup, a cholesterol deposit that can narrow your arteries and reduce your heart rate. A higher calcium score may indicate an increased risk of sudden death. The CT Coronary Angiogram scan is used to determine the exact location and severity of any atheroma. This scan is useful as it can detect ‘soft plaque,’ which is a type of atheroma that hasn’t yet calcified and is the most likely to rupture, potentially leading to a heart attack.

Echelon Health’s Healthy Heart Assessment is the gold standard of detecting heart disease. This assessment identifies narrowing of the heart arteries, the degree of calcification, the location and the presence of soft plaque, one of the leading causes of sudden death in the UK.