Many Adults Unaware of ‘Heart Disease’ Warnings – Study

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About 30% of people are concerned about the risks of suffering from cancer or dementia while very few are get worried when it comes to coronary heart disease, in reference to a survey by the British Heart Foundation.

Surprisingly, 10% of adults are not conversant with ways to take care of their hearts.

On average, 74,000 lives in the UK are lost annually due to coronary heart disease (CHD).

Statistics indicate that men are the most affected with one dying in every five males who suffer from the condition. The preference rate of death in women is about one in every eight.

Devastated Family

Gail Sullivan, 43-year-old mother happens to be one of the victims of CHD death.

According to Dr. Mike Knapton, an associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, your heart is the most important organ in the body of every person, but most people are not doing enough to care of its health.

Knapton notes that although CHD is a largely preventable condition, it still remains one of the top killer conditions causing unnecessary grief to thousands of families in the UK.

Symptoms may vary in different people and some might not have previous experiences until they are diagnosed with CHD. Some of the common symptoms of CHD include chest pain, heart attacks and heart failure

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There are certain factors that can increase the risk of CHD including smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Daniel, son to Gail Sullivan from Oxted in Surrey lost his life due to the disease.

Sullivan said she was very passionate in raising the awareness because she thinks her son should not have died the way he did. She never wished him to die in vain, something that devastated the whole family because they were unaware something was going wrong because there were no symptoms of any illness, she said.

It dawned to Gail Sullivan what it actually means when people talk about the “silent killer.”

She said that the call that informed her about the death of her son, Daniel, due to heart disease is something that will be difficult to erase in her mind.

It is at the hospital where she realized that Daniel collapsed at work as a result of a cardiac arrest.

After the incidence, Sullivan said they tried to get his heart started, put him in an ambulance where there were cases of other cardiac arrests, and got him to the hospital where he got another cardiac arrest.

He was put on a life support machine after his heart was started again where he stayed for a couple of weeks.

However, doctors told her that his brain had died, and on taking away the machines on that Friday, he passed out.

According to doctors, smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are the factors that affected the health of Daniel’s heart.

The British Heart Foundation came up with 10 tips to prevent heart disease which include:

  • Stop smoking
  • Take up your free NHS health check if you are over 40 years old
  • Maintain a healthy weight
  • Live actively
  • Avoid salt
  • Consume plenty of fruits and vegetables
  • Reduce saturated fat
  • Check on food labels and find if they are healthy
  • Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
  • Check out your food portion sizes.
  • Plan your exercise routine.

Reference

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29381914

Churchill Otieno
Churchill Otieno, holds a degree in Communications and Public Relations. He is an accomplished independent researcher, experienced, professional writer based in Chicago, IL past Mombasa, Kenya. He is an author and publisher for Consumer Health Digest - Joint Pain Center category since 2013. He has an additional credentials in health and lifestyle fitness. He has been writing articles on health for more than two years with interest on bone, joint health, arthritis, osteoarthritis etc. He is also a contributor to healthcentral.com and many other popular websites. His mission is to educate, empower and advocate people whose lives have changed due to arthritis joint pain. He also strive to support the families and caregivers as they learn how to advocate and care for the afflicted person.