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Heart Disease: Know The Facts About

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing over 600,000 Americans each year. It refers to several conditions that affect the heart, most commonly coronary artery disease which can cause heart attacks. Risk factors include smoking, an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Symptoms vary but often include chest pain or discomfort. Diagnosis involves tests like EKGs, stress tests, and angiograms. Prevention focuses on not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise, and treating other conditions. Treatment may include lifestyle changes and medication.

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محمود الجمال
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59 views2 pages

Heart Disease: Know The Facts About

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing over 600,000 Americans each year. It refers to several conditions that affect the heart, most commonly coronary artery disease which can cause heart attacks. Risk factors include smoking, an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Symptoms vary but often include chest pain or discomfort. Diagnosis involves tests like EKGs, stress tests, and angiograms. Prevention focuses on not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise, and treating other conditions. Treatment may include lifestyle changes and medication.

Uploaded by

محمود الجمال
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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KNOW THE FACTS ABOUT

Heart Disease

What is heart disease? Having high cholesterol, high blood


pressure, or diabetes also can increase
Heart disease is the leading cause of
your risk for heart disease. Ask your
death in the United States. More than
doctor about preventing or treating these
600,000 Americans die of heart disease
medical conditions.
each year. That’s one in every four
deaths in this country.1 What are the signs and symptoms?

The term “heart disease” refers to several The symptoms vary depending on the
types of heart conditions. The most type of heart disease. For many people,
common type is coronary artery disease, chest discomfort or a heart attack is the
which can cause heart attack. Other first sign.
kinds of heart disease may involve the
Someone having a heart attack may
valves in the heart, or the heart may not
experience several symptoms, including:
pump well and cause heart failure. Some
people are born with heart disease. l Chest pain or discomfort that
doesn’t go away after a few
minutes.
Are you at risk?
l Pain or discomfort in the jaw,
Anyone, including children, can neck, or back.
develop heart disease. It occurs when
l Weakness, light-headedness, nausea
a substance called plaque builds up in
(feeling sick to your stomach), or
your arteries. When this happens, your
a cold sweat.
arteries can narrow over time, reducing
blood flow to the heart. l Pain or discomfort in the
arms or shoulder.
Smoking, eating an unhealthy diet, and
not getting enough exercise all increase l Shortness of breath.
your risk for having heart disease.
If you think that you or someone you
know is having a heart attack, call 9-1-1
immediately.
1
CDC: Deaths: Final Data for 2009.
www.cdc.gov/nchs/ data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_03.pdf

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention

1
KNOW THE FACTS ABOUT

Heart Disease

How is heart disease diagnosed? l Prevent or treat your other


health conditions, especially
Your doctor can perform several tests high blood pressure, high
to diagnose heart disease, including cholesterol, and diabetes.
chest X-rays, coronary angiograms,
electrocardiograms (ECG or EKG),
and exercise stress tests. Ask your How is it treated?
doctor about what tests may be right
If you have heart disease, lifestyle
for you.
changes, like those just listed, can help
lower your risk for complications. Your
Can it be prevented? doctor also may prescribe medication to
treat the disease. Talk with your doctor
You can take several steps to reduce about the best ways to reduce your heart
your risk for heart disease: disease risk.
l Don’t smoke. CDC’s Office on Smoking
and Health Web site has information
For More Information:
on quitting smoking.
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco Learn more at the following Web sites.

l Maintain a healthy weight. CDC’s l Centers for Disease Control and


Healthy Weight Web site includes Prevention’s Division for Heart Disease
information and tools to help you and Stroke Prevention:
lose weight. http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/index.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/
l Centers for Disease Control and
index.html
Prevention’s National Center on Birth
l Eat a healthy diet. Tips on reducing Defects & Developmental Disabilities:
saturated fat in your diet are available http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/
on the Web site for CDC’s Division default.htm
for Nutrition, Physical Activity, and l American Heart Association:
Obesity.
http://www.americanheart.org
http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/
basics/fat/saturatedfat.html l National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute:
l Exercise regularly. Visit CDC’s Physical http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov
Activity Web site for more information
on being active.
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/
index.html

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