What You Need to Know About Heart Attacks

My high school teammate Tommy called to tell me that the father of one of our friends had died at home. I was devastated by this news. As a typical teenager, I believed that we and all those around us were immune to the misfortunes of sickness and disease. Our friend’s father was 35 years old and had no history of cardiovascular disease. We later learned that the day before he died he had developed aching in his left arm and slight nausea, but believed this to be only the fatigue of hard work. He had mistaken cardinal symptoms of myocardial ischemia (not getting enough oxygen to the heart muscle) for minor aches and pains.
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Happy Healthy Heart

“Heart disease and stroke is the world’s largest killer, claiming 17.5 million lives each year,” according to the World Heart Federation. They state: “That’s why World Heart Day was created, to create public awareness of risk factors for heart disease and stroke and to promote preventive measures.” And this year World Heart Day is celebrated on Sunday September 30 with a theme entitled “Team Up for Healthy Hearts.” What a great cause!

You know we’re all affected by disease and I bet if you thought long and hard enough you could think of someone you know who suffers from heart disease. It certainly hits home for me. In fact, it recently affected my father in a major way. Let me explain. My dad is truly amazing. He’s seventy-four years young and is one of the most active men I’ve ever known. All his life he’s worked hard and been physically active. Maybe he’s never gone to the gym to pump iron, but after an entire day’s work of farming and landscaping I don’t think he really needed to clock time in at the gym! Even now he hasn’t slowed down. He still works three jobs! Isn’t that incredible? He puts me to shame and I’m over forty years younger than he. He’s the picture of health concerning his diet and lifestyle. He doesn’t smoke or drink. He’s a vegan and all of his meals include lots of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. If we all took such good care of ourselves the world would be a healthier place.

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