Cardiovascular disease is also known as heart and blood vessels disease or heart disease. It included several conditions related to heart, arteries and blood vessels, and often involves narrowed or blocked blood vessels which restrict blood circulation. Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in United State; while atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke are the most common cardiovascular disease.

Heart Attack

Heart attack is also known as myocardial infarction, which is a condition occurs when blood flow in coronary arteries to heart is blocked, causes inadequate oxygen supply and lead to death of heart muscle tissue. The coronary arteries are the most important blood vessels that supply the oxygenated blood to heart; blockage of coronary arteries may be due to narrowing of artery walls, plaque formation, blood clots form from the ruptured plaque, or other coronary artery diseases that will cause damage to the arteries.

Signs and symptoms

• Pain, pressure, tightness, or squeezing sensation on chest, but may spread to neck, jaw, or back.
• Shortness breath
• Irregular heartbeat
• Fatigue or dizziness
• Cold sweat, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, etc.

*Symptoms may be vary based on individual’s health; the severity are different and can be fatal; some people might not have any symptoms (“silent” myocardial infarction); and some might have sudden cardiac arrest (the heart suddenly stop pumping blood to whole body) as the first sign rather than symptoms listed above.     

Risk factors

Age: Aging increase risk of cardiovascular disease, which men above 45’s and women above 55’s have higher risk than younger people. Aging may causes heart muscle cells degenerate and slower heart rate; thicken and stiffen arteries which increase blood pressure; slower red blood cells production, and reduction in total body water causes decrease in blood volume.

Family history: Risk higher when you have family member(s) with cardiovascular disease. It is also possible a genetic factor that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Atherosclerosis: Hardening and narrowing of arteries increase the risk of heart attack, especially if there is plaque formation in the coronary arteries, which limit the oxygenated blood supply to heart and lead to the death of heart muscle tissue.

Smoking: The carbon monoxide in the tobacco smoke will reduce amount of oxygen in blood, which causes the heart to pump harder to ensure enough oxygen supply to the whole body’s cells. Also, it causes the blood more likely to clot, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Lack of physical activity: Physical inactivity may worsen body health and is a risk factor for several chronic diseases.

Unhealthy diet: High saturated fat, trans-fat, and cholesterol from diet may increase body fat composition, which may lead to obesity and increase the risk of developing cardiovascular.   

Obesity: Obesity often causes several health problems, such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol; it is also increase risk of atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases.

High blood pressure: High blood pressure can cause damage to blood vessels and increase the risk of atherosclerosis, which is also leading to other cardiovascular disease.

Diabetes: High blood glucose may damage and reduce elasticity of the blood vessels, which causes higher risk to develop cardiovascular disease.

High blood cholesterol: High cholesterol level, especially LDL (low density lipoprotein) in the blood will increase the build-up of plaque on the wall of arteries, which lead to atherosclerosis, and may further develop into heart attack or stroke.

Prevention and management of Heart attack

• Healthy diet: Consuming a healthy balance diet, which is eat more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains; Consider a healthy meal, fill your plate with ½ of the plate is vegetables, ¼ of the plate is your protein source (egg, fish, lean meat, or tofu), ¼ of the plate is carbs (brown rice, wheat noodles, sweet potato, and etc.); avoid adding extra sauces to your meal (mayonnaise, tomato sauce, soy sauce and etc.), you may consider using herbs and spices (ginger, mint, curcumin and etc.). Also, avoid foods high in saturated fat, trans-fat, cholesterol, salt (sodium), sugar and refined grains. A healthy diet can help to control blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose level too.
• Regular exercise: A regular exercise able to improve blood circulation, reduce blood pressure and lose weight effectively. Exercises such as walking, jogging, cycling, or swimming can be carry out for 30-60 minutes per day and do for at least 3 times per week. Besides, you can also increase your daily activities with several simple steps, such as climbing stairs instead of taking lift, walk to your colleague rather than calling through the phone, or walk to pantry to drink some water/take a break after sitting in front of the computer for hours.
• Quit smoking: Smoking is one of risk factors for chronic diseases development. The cigarette and tobacco products contain several toxic substances; nicotine and carbon monoxide are especially toxic to heart and blood vessels. Hence, quit smoking is necessary for diseases prevention and maintenance of health.
• Maintain healthy weight: Overweight and obesity has been found to increase risk of cardiovascular disease. So, maintain the body weight in healthy weight range is important. BMI (body mass index) is an indicator of weight range, which is calculated using weight (kg) divided by square of height (m2). For Asian, BMI value range from 18.5 to 22.9 is considered normal weight range; BMI value range from 23 to 27.4 is considered overweight; BMI value more than 27.5 is considered obesity; while BMI value less than 18.5 is underweight.
• Regular health check-up: Consider a heart-health screening, which would include blood pressure measurement, blood test for blood lipid profile and blood glucose level, weight and body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio. Knowing your number may help you to prevent and control your condition better.
• Supplements: Supplement is another option for those who are not able to consume enough nutrients from their diet, such as vegetarian, people who are allergic to certain foods, or those with poor digestive system. However, if you are taking medications to control your condition, it is better to ask your doctor/pharmacist/health consultant for advices before consuming any supplement. Supplements that may beneficial to cardiovascular health may include vitamin C, Coenzyme Q10, Omega-3 fatty acid, folic acid, and so on.