One of our members, Millie from Scotland, is passionate about reducing unnecessary heart disease. Here is her contribution....

For both males and females of all ages, cardiovascular disease could be the #1 killer. It kills more people than ALL forms of tumors combined. Anyone, at any place, any time can have a heart attack [1].

Myth #1: Only adults need to be concerned about their heart.

What might contribute to heart disease accumulates over time. Being a couch-potato and boredom eating without exercising are very improper habits that might begin in childhood. An increasing number of docs are starting to observe sufferers of heart attacks in their twenties and thirties as an alternative to victims generally in their fifties and sixties.

Being physically fit and at the correct weight doesn't make you safe from a heart attack. Although, exercising regularly and keeping an ideal body weight helps. In the end you need to check your blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels. A really good cholesterol (or lipid profile) amount is under two hundred. A very good blood pressure is 120/80.

Myth #2: I'd feel ill if I had high blood pressure levels or high-cholesterol.

They label these, "silent killers" due to the fact that they show NO symptoms. One-third of all adults have high blood pressure. Of those, one-third don't know they have got it.

High cholesterol is a way of measuring the fats stocked by your blood stream. Fats may be dropped anywhere in your whole body, but may congregate all-around body organs, including your heart. This predisposition may run in family members. So, even if you're at a good body weight and don't smoke, have your cholesterol levels and blood pressure checked constantly. One time will not be adequate [2].

Myth #3: Males and females DON'T experience the same warning signs.

Males and females CAN have the same problems, however they commonly will not. Ladies usually tend to have the subtler symptoms, while males more frequently experience the form of heart attacks you see in the movies. But, either gender can have any warning signs.

These subtler warning signs, including jaw achiness, nausea, breathlessness and intense weakness, have a propensity to get explained away. "My jaw hurt since my lunchtime sandwich was on whole-grain bread and I simply had to chew very, very hard," or , while clutching their stomach, "I should not have had that extra piece of pizza."

"Half of ladies [who have heart attacks] do not have chest pain, after all," declares Kathy Magliato, a heart expert at California's St. John's Health Center. Put all the little indicators to each other and listen to your own body.

Of course, women and men may experience the "grab-your-chest-and-fall-down-gasping" form of stroke, but now you no-doubt know, that is not the only way.

Myth #4: As long as my sugar level is under control, type 2 diabetes isn't a heart threat.

While keeping your blood glucose level with a standard range (80ml-120ml) will keep you healthier, just having the additional glucose in your body takes its toll on arterial blood vessels. You will be doing exercises and eating more healthy to help take control of your diabetes, but also bear in mind to check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, too.

Myth #5: My physician would order lab tests if I were vulnerable to heart problems.

Sometimes, every one of us overlook to tell the physician about the little aches we're feeling. The medical professionals, with no knowledge of most of the things we deem as unimportant, might pass over heart exams.

"Mammograms and colonoscopies are normally recommended," says Merdod Ghafouri, a cardiologist at Inova Fairfax Clinic in Virginia, [3] "and are usually very important, but heart tests commonly are not often performed." Yet a cardiac scan can diagnose plaque build-up within the arteries even before you find out you've got problem.

Do you have the oil pressure and brake fluid checked in your vehicle? Do you have other preventive routine service done? Then doesn't your only heart ought to receive as much attention as your automobile?

Links to Supporting Guides About Heart Disease:

- [1] Family Doctor by American Academy of Family Physicians offers reliable well being info and resources for patients. They have a high-quality write-up covering high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

- [2] Mediterranean Book is the National Board for the preservation of the Italian healthy eating traditions. It's a non-profits web site managed by Italians that encourage the Mediterranean Diet plan. They provide headlines and medical-related research connected to the many advantages of the Mediterranean diet plan and tips to keep your heart healthy.

- [3] Health Central is among the most trusted resources for clinical information and facts and up to date reports that contain a doctor-authorized health encyclopedia of health issues and disorders. They have a good guide related to 6 ways to Better Heart.

The author:

Millie Mary Bruce (Twitter.com/millie_bruce) was born in Banffshire, Scotland on August 2, 1944. She had an basic diploma in Meds at the University of Glasgow in 1962. She did diet guidance and she taught adult nutrition in Adult Day Care Centres. She previously worked for medical editors and reviewers that published reports for the New England Journal of Medicine. Now she's retired and from the year 2005 to the present she has been a guest author for medical web pages and blog sites.