Heart attacks are one of the most common causes of death in our Western industrialized nations, with around 300 heart attacks per 100,000 inhabitants per year in Austria. The cause is vascular calcification, a so-called atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, which often suddenly interrupts the blood flow to areas of the heart muscle.
The heart muscles then begin to die within 20 minutes – in most cases associated with pain in the chest area, but also in the arms, back or upper abdomen. Only in rare cases does the doctor only come to the diagnosis after an ECG examination, because nothing was felt at all.
Cardiologists highlight some risk factors in particular: smoking, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and disorders of lipid metabolism, but also family stress, as is the case with you. These factors are particularly amplified by obesity, poor nutrition and lack of exercise. If possible, you should avoid all of the above – just like everyone else, by the way.
Stress and psychosocial factors such as fear, anger, depressive moods and quick flare-ups at every annoyance, no matter how small, should be avoided at all costs with the history in your family. Studies have shown that calmness training in heart attack patients can significantly reduce the risk of a second heart attack.
While you cannot change your genetic predisposition, if you implement these precautions in your everyday life, you will greatly reduce your risk of suffering the same fate as your father at this early age. In addition, based on your family history, I recommend that you entrust yourself to a cardiologist.
Do you have questions about health?
Write to OÖN doctor Johannes Neuhofer (dermatologist), who oversees this column with a team of doctors: Clemens Steinwender (cardiologist), Reinhold Függer (surgeon), Rainer Schöfl (gastroenterologist), Josef Hochreiter (orthopaedist), Werner Schöny (psychiatrist).
E-mail: doktor@nachrichten.at
Source: Nachrichten
