attack, heart

attack, heart,

n See thrombosis, coronary.

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Patient discussion about attack, heart.

Q. what should I do to prevent heart attack?

A. The American Heart Association recommends that heart attack prevention begin by age 20. This means assessing your risk factors and working to keep them low. For those over 40, or those with multiple risk factors, it’s important to calculate the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years. Many first-ever heart attacks or strokes are fatal or disabling, so prevention is critical. The sooner you begin comprehensive risk reduction, the longer and stronger your heart will beat. For the full article and a quiz to test your heart health: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3035379
the abc's of preventing a heart attack:
http://americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3035374 Hope this helps.

Q. What causes Cardiomegaly? My Husband has had a physical checkup and has found to have Cardiomegaly. What does it mean and what causes it?

A. Cardiomegaly means an enlarged heart and it is a sign of an underlying problem. It can have many causes, including:

High blood pressure
Heart valve disorders
Weakness of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy)
Severe anemia
Thyroid disorders
Excessive iron in the body (hemochromatosis)
Abnormal protein buildup in an organ (amyloidosis)

Q. What causes blood clots? My father had a heart attack which was caused by a blood clot. Am I at risk for developing blood clots too? How do I prevent it from happening?

A. I found a website that checks your risks for inheriting your family's illness, including blood clots. They have a test you can do which is called "Free Risk Assessment for Thrombophilia":
http://www.dnadirect.com/patients/tests/blood_clotting/more_about/GH_Thr_Risk.jsp