Heart Attack: Risks, Prevention, and Health Management Strategies

This report examines the risks associated with heart attacks, detailing both controllable and uncontrollable factors. It highlights the physiological progression leading to a heart attack, including plaque deposition and blood clots. The report emphasizes the importance of lifestyle modifications, such as healthy eating habits to control cholesterol and triglycerides, managing high blood pressure, quitting smoking, ensuring adequate sleep, and regular exercise. It provides an overview of heart attack statistics, considering age and gender demographics, and offers personalized preventive measures. The report stresses the significance of understanding individual risk factors and adopting a proactive approach to cardiovascular health for a healthier life. The report also covers preventive measures and the importance of a healthy lifestyle to reduce the chances of a heart attack.

Running head = THREAT ASSOCIATED WITH HEART ATTACK
0
Threat associated with heart attack
Risk involved in heart attack and prevention
Student detail
[Pick the date]
The primary reason for the stoppage of blood streaming in to the cardiovascular muscle is
associated with the blockage of the artery either by a blood clot or due to the deposition of
cholesterol in the arteries. In Canada, approximately 20 % of all death occurs due to heart diseases.
The number of deaths due to a heart attack is more in the case of women than men. A preventive
measure that could be taken for the prevention against a heart attack is regular exercise, good eating
habit, quit smoking and proper sleep cycle.

Threat associated with Heart attack 1
Introduction
A heart attack is initiated by stoppage of blood streaming in the cardiovascular muscle,
which results in the death of some part of the muscle. The primary reason for the stoppage of
blood streaming to the cardiovascular muscle is associated with the blockage of the artery either
by a blood clot or due to the deposition of cholesterol in the arteries. The primary reason for the
occurrence of heart attack is coronary artery diseases. The physiological progression that might
lead to heart attack includes deposition of plaque in the inner area of the coronary artery, which
eventually leads to the blood clot that leads to blockage of oxygenated blood supply to the
muscle resulting in the lack of oxygen in the muscle which further result into loss of function of
heart muscle (Flink, Sciacca, Bier, Rodriguez, & Giardina, 2013). The present report provides a
brief overview of the diseases and steps that could be taken for the prevention of diseases.
Heart attack an age and gender perspective
In the context of Canada, approximately 20 % of all death occurs due to heart diseases.
The report published by (Government of Canada , 2018) indicated approximately 2.4 million
Canadian were suffering from ischemic heart disease (IHD). The age demographic is highly
spread from 20 years and above, moreover, out the total reported 578,000 was suffering from a
heart attack. There are reports in the literature which, indicated that heart attack generally
manifests at the age of 65 for men and 72 for women, however, the number of death due to heart
attack is higher among the women in comparison to men since 1984. In the context of women,
the occurrence of heart diseases is more in women after menopause.
Controllable factor
Some of the major controllable factors that could reduce the possibilities of heart
diseases are smoking, unhealthy food habits, high blood pressure (HBP) , absence or minimal

Threat associated with Heart attack 2
physical activity and overweight or obesity. Out of the aforementioned habits smoking and
unhealthy food habit primarily the factor that is applied to me and should be avoided for a
healthy life. The risk of occurrence or suffering from heart ailment such as heart attack is higher
in the case of smokers than in comparison to the non –smoker. The control of cholesterol intake
determines the condition of arteries, the plaque formation is directly proportional to the
concentration of low-density lipid (LDL) in food.
Uncontrollable risk factor
The things that are uncontrollable, but pose the risk of heart attack are age, gender,
family history and race of the person. Out of the aforementioned factor age and family history is
one the major factor that is uncontrollable. The progression of age results in many health
ailments, a heart attack is one of them, which is generally associated with the weakening of heart
muscle. The family background is mostly related to a genetic disorder such as high blood
cholesterol and coronary artery diseases which leads to a heart attack if not taken care of
properly. The aforementioned factor is not applied to me as there is no family history of heart
diseases also age is also not an issue for me in the general context.
The preventive measure that could be applied
A heart attack is a disorder that could occur either due to bad habits in terms of
addiction, unhealthy food filled with a high concentration of LDL also known as bad cholesterol
and lack if HDL in the diet was also known as good cholesterol. The preventive measure that a
person could an aging person could take is regular exercise and eating healthy food with the
consultation of a physician and dietician. The preventive measure that a person who is at the risk
of a heart attack due to some genetic disorder running in the family should be based on the
knowledge of the disease, and based on the conditions and advice of medical professionals any

Threat associated with Heart attack 3
course of action should be taken. In my case the following preventive measures that are needed
to be followed to prevent myself from a heart attack and symptoms associated with it.
I. Develop a healthy eating habit: The primary objective of this is to lower the intake of bad
cholesterol also known as LDL in the diet and increase the intake of appropriate quantity
of good cholesterol. The high concentration of cholesterol/.LDL in blood could result in
the deposition of plaque in the artery responsible for the blood flow in cardiovascular
muscle, which further results in blockage of the artery and result in a heart attack.
Moreover, lower the intake of triglycerides is one more way to stay healthy in preventing
oneself from any sort of heart disease.
II. HBP: It is one of the chief causes associated with several heart diseases. A person must
get his blood pressure checked up on the regular intervals and further medication or other
help should be taken for its controlling. HBP has also been linked with a much high-
pressure profession along with the unhealthy lifestyle that could be avoided to prevent
heart diseases (Go, et al., 2014).
III. Smoking habit: Smoking a cigarette is generally raised blood pressure that could further
enhances the chances and make person more susceptible to heart attack. As in my case,
the smoking habit should be stopped to reduce the danger of heart attack and the threat
associated with it. The quitting of the smoking habit is one of the ways to stay healthy
and should be done with a help of physician so that a proper professional directive could
be made for the quitting process.
IV. Sleep management: The lack of sleep is also related with the improving the probability of
heart due to HBP. Moreover, sleeplessness is also related to the increases in excessive
weight gain and diabetes, which have been associated as a primary cause of heart attack.

Threat associated with Heart attack 4
Lack of sleep is associated with an increase in stress that can result in high blood pressure
or overeating, which will further increase the risk. Therefore it is very important to have a
7 to 9-hour sleep.
V. Regular Exercise: The major benefit of exercise is an improvement in blood circulation
along with the increase in the strength of the heart muscle. Further regular exercise also
helps in regulating weight, cholesterol level in the body along with control over blood
pressure. The aforementioned benefits of exercise help in lowering the risk of heart
attack.
.

Threat associated with Heart attack 5
Reference
Flink, L. E., Sciacca, R. R., Bier, M. L., Rodriguez, J., & Giardina, E.‐G. V. (2013). Women at
risk for cardiovascular disease lack knowledge of heart attack symptoms. Clinical
cardiology, 133-138.
Go, A. S., Bauman, M. A., Coleman, S. M., Fonarow, G. C., Lawrence, W., Williams, K., et al.
(2014). An effective approach to high blood pressure control: a science advisory from the
American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 1230-
1238.
Government of Canada . (2018, May 26). Report from the Canadian Chronic Disease
Surveillance System: Heart Disease in Canada, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from
Government of Canada :
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/report-
heart-disease-Canada-2018.html