Take Heart. You Can Control Some Heart Attack Risk Factors
Palmdale Regional Medical Center
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There are major risk factors that significantly increase the risk of a heart attack, according to the American Heart Association. Some factors, including your age, sex and heredity (including race), are things over which you have no control. This makes it all the more important to manage those things that can be changed.
The major risk factors for a heart attack that you can control include: being a smoker; having high blood pressure; having high cholesterol; being overweight and/or obese; a lack of routine physical activity and having high blood sugar due to insulin resistance or diabetes.*
Once you identify your risk, your next step is to make a plan to adjust those factors that are within your control.
Signs and symptoms of a possible heart attack:
Heart attack symptoms vary from person to person and not all signs of a heart attack begin with chest pain. In one National Institutes of Health study, one-third of the patients who had heart attacks had no chest pain and were more likely to be older, female or diabetic. For both men and women*, the most common warning symptoms are:
Chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
Upper body discomfort. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw or upper part of the stomach.
Shortness of breath. May occur with or without chest discomfort.
What to do in the event of a heart attack.
Call 9-1-1! Do not drive yourself. An ambulance is the safest way to get you to the hospital and emergency medical services can begin life-saving treatment en route. They also can take the patient to a STEMI-receiving center that’s certified by the American Heart Association.
Palmdale Regional Medical Center (PRMC) is a certified STEMI-receiving center. STEMI stands for ST-elevation myocardial infarction, the technical term for a severe heart attack. Emergency responders know that they need to transport heart attack patients to a STEMI-certified center because they have the technology and experience to provide immediate interventional treatment within a cardiac catheterization laboratory. PRMC has two cardiac catheterization labs.
Additionally, PRMC offers a full range of services for the diagnoses and treatment of cardiovascular disease, performed by a team of highly skilled, dedicated medical and surgical professionals. PRMC’s cardiologists coordinate care with other healthcare team members, including the surgery and emergency departments, and ensure that their patients receive the care that’s tailored to their individual needs.
* – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
CTA:
For more information about our cardiac services, visit http://palmdaleregional.com/cardiac
38600 Medical Center Drive
Palmdale, CA 93551
661-382-5000
DISCLAIMER
Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Palmdale Regional Medical Center. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians.
