February is coming to a close. What have we learned about heart health?
- Heart and cardiovascular disease rank as #1 cause of death for Americans, both men and women.
- Classic symptoms of heart attack include chest pain (pressure or squeezing) discomfort that affects one or both arms, upper back, neck, jaw or stomach. The person may sweat, feel unable to catch his breath, feel fatigued, nauseated and/or dizzy. Both men and women can experience the classic symptoms.
- Both men and women (but especially women) may suffer the subtle symptoms: fatigue, feeling short of breath and feeling nauseated. Please do not ignore if you or your loved one suffers these subtle symptoms. Get medical help immediately for heart attack symptoms.
- Symptoms of stroke include sudden weakness of an arm or leg, sudden confusion or difficulty speaking and comprehending what a person hears, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden dizziness, difficulty walking or loss of balance, sudden severe headache (no known cause) Reference: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Stroke Signs and Symptoms,http://www.cdc.gov/Stroke/signs_symptoms.htm
- If you wonder if your loved one is experiencing a stroke, use the FAST test (see February 7, 2012 post) and get medical help immediately.
More tomorrow.
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