Does a Heart Attack Come on Suddenly?

Heart disease begins early in life. Over time, cholesterol is deposited on the walls of the heart's blood vessels. It is easiest to reverse the effects of heart disease in the earliest stages, when the blood vessels walls contains small amounts of cholesterol. As time goes by cholesterol is chemically changed by various waste products in the walls of the blood vessel. Unfortunately this results in more cholesterol being trapped.

This modified cholesterol attracts white blood cells that try to clean up the build up of foreign material, but in the process do even more damage. Then real bone forms in the vessel walls. By the time your arteries have hardened, you actually have thin sheaths of bone, all around the blood vessel wall. This process progresses over many decades.

A heart attack doesn't happen until a clot forms in the narrowed blood vessel and blocks the blood flow entirely. If this blockage is discovered immediately, doctors can give you an intravenous injection of enzymes that chew up the clot. This will often limit or eliminate significant damage to the heart. Doctors will sometimes recommend angioplasty as well, in which a stainless steel mesh called a stent is placed in the area of blockage, to provide an artificial channel for blood flow. Some people have such a high degree of blockage, that a bypass operation is needed.

Everyone has a characteristic cholesterol level that is a result of their genes, diet and lifestyle. Cholesterol levels can be lowered through diets and other natural remedies. Is a high cholesterol level the same as heart disease? No. Cholesterol level is one indication of one's risk for heart disease, but there are other risk factors. Obesity is another reason for heart disease well.

Losing weight is definitely one natural path to a healthy heart. If one is overweight one may also have high blood pressure as well as high levels of cholesterol and also triglycerides (fats). One has to bite the bullet and make a drastic diet change to drop some weight and thus stave off a heart attack.

Even if you are not overweight there are many things you can do to maintain a healthy heart by changing the way you eat. One should try to reduce or avoid entirely, foods with lots of fat, or fried foods. Eat a lot of protein. It helps to build muscle and would curb your appetite between meals. Moderation is the key. A moderate protein, moderate carbohydrate, and a low fat diet is best.

Diet alone, however, cannot do everything. Exercise plays a very important role in heart disease reduction. It is a great stress reducer as well as an antidepressant. It can even increase your muscle mass. This gain in muscle mass actually lowers your cholesterol by increasing the activity of certain enzymes that remove cholesterol from the blood stream. The muscles also help to pump the blood through the body, thus helping the heart.

The heart is an extraordinary organ but it cannot be expected to adapt to overwhelming amounts of damage. Heart Disease is both natural and a consequence of your particular lifestyle. It is related to your genes, your diet, and the way you live. Just because you have a family history of heart disease means that you are doomed to develop heart disease yourself. Remember the amount of vessel blockage in the heart can be reduced after a period of diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes. Are you willing to make the changes to protect this wonderful organ that is capable of such uncompromising and faithful work, that far exceeds the productivity of even the most efficient man-made device?