One simple thing that can be done is to take some aspirin, if you are
thinking that you are having a hear attack. This will help thin the blood
somewhat. It is important to realize that the cause of a heart attack is
that the plaque build up in your coronary arteries (the arteries that supply
blood to the musculature of the heart) may burst. (The most common cause is
waking up on a Monday morning.) When this occurs a blood clot will form.
Also, realize that the coronary artery is about the thickness of a piece of
spaghetti, so a blood clot will block the flow of blood through the coronary
artery. When this occurs an area of the heart will not receive a blood
supply and the muscle will start to die within 30 minutes after onset, and
damage will be complete within 48 hours. Therefore, it is imperative to get
emergency help if you think you are having a heart attack. This will help
minimize the damage. At the hospital you will undergo one of two procedures.
One is to receive serious clot busting medication. The other is to receive
an emergency angioplasty which is low invasive medical procedure and the
cardiologist will physically break up the clot. You will undergo one or the
other procedure, but not both. The clot busting (thrombolytic) drugs would
also cause excessive bleeding, if you where to undergo surgical after taking
these drugs. Aspirin will help thin the blood, but it is a stopgap solution.
You will need to (try to) stay calm and get to a medical facility as soon as
possible. As far as aspirin is concerned it should be in a quick dissolve
form or you should chew up a non-coated aspirin, this will help it to get
into the blood stream more quickly. (Drugs like Tylenol and Aleve will not
work.) The key is you will need to put aspirin in many locations so it is
easy to find and get to if you or a loved one is suspected of having a heart
attack. (Places like your car, purse, brief case, bathroom medicine cabinet
are some ideas.) Keep in mind that for many people there first time they
realize they have heart disease is when they have a heart attack, so
everyone should know what to do incase of a heart attack.

Some general notes and suggestions.

Go to your physician and get a physical. Get all the preventive medical
procedures that you can. Blood Pressure, Blood work, mammograms, PSA,
colonoscopy, especially those get tested for medical issues for which you
have a family history.

Try to catch some of Clintons recent interviews. He has many insights into
some of the "innocent" signs of heart disease and describes them on a
layperson level. These are symptoms like decreased energy level.

Women sometimes have different symptoms than men and sometimes those
symptoms are ambiguous like nausea, and general not feeling well. If you
think there is something wrong, then get it checked out and if you are
"blown off" then be persistent. This has been an issue in the past. Also,
half of all heart disease victims are women and it is the biggest killer of
women (and men).

Make sure you eat a healthy diet. Diets are confusing but cut down on
portion sizes. Decrease the foods that are obviously bad for you - Chips,
ice cream, cake, donuts, French fries, etc. Eat fish or chicken as opposed
to high fat red meats. Make sure you get at least 5 servings of fruits and
vegetables.

Exercise - For exercise the recommendation is AT LEAST 30 minutes of
moderate activity on most if not all days of the week (5 to 7 days/week).
Also you should complete some flexibility exercises on at least 2 or 3 days
per week and ideally resistance exercise 2 or 3 days per week (1 to 3 sets
of 8 to 12 repetitions for each major muscle group).

Diet and exercise works and the side effects of exercise is to decrease your
risk for other diseases, where as the side effects of medications are
typically negative.

If you would like more you can email me or you can also get information on
the CDC.gov, NIH.gov, WebMD.com or the AmericanHeart.org websites.

Nicholas Boer

Nicholas F. Boer, PHD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Exercise Science, Health and Leisure Studies
Dept. 6606
615 McCallie Ave
Chattanooga, TN 37403-2598
University of Tennessee Chattanooga
(423) 425-4745
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