NADH reducing heart attack risks (1 of 3)

Heart Attack Facts
This month 21,000 people will die from either a heart attack or stroke. Do you know the symptoms of an impending attack? If you're like most people, you don't. In this section of the web site, we list the warning signs of a heart attack. We also list the differences between heart attacks and heartburn. Another subject of interest is the clinical research that misrepresented the role of aspirin in reducing the risks of a heart attack.

Unfortunately, our research found women face a greater risk of heart attack than men when seeking medical care. This sad fact was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA). We don't attempt to explain the reasons. We do list information women can use to reduce their risks of a heart attack.

We close this subject area with recommendations that are known to reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease and heart disease. These diseases are known to lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Summary of what's known about heart attacks:
After 30 years, science has successfully mapped-out the advancing stages of cardiovascular disease and heart disease. Even with years of effort, medical science has not identified the cause(s) of cardiovascular disease or heart disease.

The high risk factors that can lead to a heart attack are:

1. smoking
2. excessively overweight
3. high LDL or bad cholesterol levels
4. high blood pressure
5. high homocysteine levels (a new high risk factor)

In our research, we were surprised to find 25% of the people dying from heart attacks do not have any of the known high risk factors (smoking, over weight, high blood pressure or high LDL cholesterol levels.) What is killing the other 25%? High homocysteine blood levels are suspected. It is slowly gaining acceptance as a new "high risk factor" leading to heart attacks and strokes.

What are your odds of having a heart attack:
Anyone with 1 of the first 4 high risk factors have a better chance at a heart attack than winning in Atlantic City or Las Vegas. People with more than 1 high risk factor have a even higher chance of having a heart attack.

Newsweek (8/11/97) claims cardiovascular disease and heart disease (leading to heart attacks and strokes) account for 1 of every 4.7 deaths in the United States. Almost half of the all heart attacks occur in people under the age 65. These people are still working, active members of a family, and are going about the daily routine of life.

Who has a heart attack:
This year, about 1.5 million Americans will have their first or a repeat heart attack. If you have met, worked with, or know 165 people, chances are 1 of them will suffer a heart attack this year!

The first time experience:
This paragraph is targeted to the first time heart attack experience. The statistics are frightening because I would have been guilty of all these actions.

Most first time heart attack victims will have experienced the symptoms on a previous occasion. Most will have dismissed the heart attack symptoms as indigestion, an allergic reaction or ignore them because the symptoms went away. Most will have said to a family member or friend: At my next physical or the next time I go to my doctor, I'll mention the symptoms I just experienced."

One third of victims will die from their heart attack because they failed to seek or didn't reach medical help.

The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that most women are misdiagnosed or do not receive proper medical treatments before, during or after their heart attack experience. This factor causes 63% more women than men to die from their first heart attack.

Having time, having a second chance:
Most have less than 1 hour to get proper medical attention after experiencing their heart attack symptoms. A heart attack usually comes in waves of pain and discomfort. Fear causes us to discount these warning signals. Most dismiss heart attack symptoms as indigestion, an allergic reaction or hope the discomfort will go away.

Think of it as "sudden death overtime" in the game of life. Most people have a chance (time) to do something about their heart attack symptoms before the game of life is over.

Age of the heart attack victims:
Almost half of the all heart attacks and strokes occur in people under the age of 65. Unfortunately, children and teenagers also die from heart attacks and stokes.

A woman's heart attack:
All the data in this section is based on comparing men and women with equally severe heart disease conditions.

The doctor's own Journal of the American Medical Association found that women in the U.S. are often misdiagnosed, mistreated and receive inferior care for heart disease. This was true regardless of the doctor's gender.

The report found 63% more women than men will die within one year of having a heart attack. More women than men die from their first heart attack. If a woman and a man have equally severe heart disease, the woman has a less than 33% chance of her own doctor prescribing a life saving therapy. (e.g., balloon angioplasty or bypass surgery.)

The AHA deems catheterization as the most important method used in diagnosing heart disease. The report found 45% more men than women receive catheterization treatment. Catheterization is threading a thin, flexible tube into a blood vessel to examine the heart.

There are many new clot busting drugs that can be given within hours of a heart attack. They prevent further damage to the heart. A University of Washington study found in 19 Seattle area hospitals, physicians prescribed these new clot busting drugs to men almost twice as often as women.

A man's heart attack:
During a woman's reproductive years, 20% more men than women have heart attacks or strokes. As men and women get older, women's heart attack rates increase to equal men's heart attack rates.

Men receive a better diagnosis, are better treated and receive superior care for heart disease, when compared to women. Men should read the above section a woman's heart attack. Then make it a point to educate the women in his life about their increased risks when seeking medical treatments for her heart condition.

When a woman understands her risks, she may become more vigilant about getting the best medical care. Now that the information is publicly available, the injustice will be corrected. In the mean time, share the information with a woman. It just may save her life when you're not around.

. . . heart attack 2 continued on the next page