A heart attack is a life-changing incident. After a heart attack, several precautionary measures should be taken by the patients as well as the caregivers. Patients are required, at their earliest to undergo risk assessment to evaluate their risk of further heart damage and see a specialist for further instructions on diet and lifestyle.
Life after a heart attack is very different from the life that you led before this incident. You will need to curtail several of your outdoor as well as indoor activities and adopt some habits that you didn’t even like. However, all these changes are necessary in order to live a long life with a healthy heart.
Some of the changes that you may need to bring in your life after a heart attack are as follows:
Modification to Lifestyle
Lifestyle changes play a very important part. The most important thing in this regard is adequate rest and healthy diet. You will need to stop partying late into night, eating lots of junk food, quit smoking and any other drugs. Alcohol consumption also needs to be cut down. Ask your doctor about how much wine you can take with a meal.
Exposure to secondhand smoke should also be avoided as it impairs heart functions and exercise tolerance in heart attack survivors.
Use of Medication
Doctors should be consulted about appropriate medicines for this condition. Aspirin or some other clot-preventing medication should be taken everyday, if aspirin is not recommended. There are various other medicines that are recommended depending on your condition.
Regular Exercise
Staying fit and active after a heart attack helps you live longer and also improves the quality of life. Sporting activities are mostly recommended that can be varied in intensity and can be taken lightly when needed. Swimming is also a good way of staying fit and active.
Even if a patient is not into sports, moderate exercises that help in breathing harder i.e. aerobic exercises are just as beneficial. A doctor should always be consulted before starting an exercise program. Enough water should be taken before, during and after the exercises to stay hydrated.
Diet Control
Diet control plays an important part in keeping your heart healthy. Lowering the cholesterol level is of prime importance for patients who have suffered a heart attack. Studies have proved that lowering cholesterol level can reduce the risk for another heart attack.
Losing weight helps a great deal in reducing cholesterol. Sea-food should be added to the diet, for it helps in losing weight, lowering blood pressure and reducing cholesterol. Studies have shown that people who follow such dietary routines may live longer.
Herbal Treatment
Herbal treatments are becoming popular day by day. Preliminary clinical tests in China suggest that astragalus, an herb, may benefit people after they have suffered a heart attack. As these studies did not aim at showing any survival or symptom reduction benefit, further research is needed to determine whether astragalus would benefit people with heart attacks or angina.
Added Nutritional Supplements
Nutritional supplements like amino acid, vitamin C, co-enzyme Q10, selenium, vitamin E, N-acetyle cysteine, fish oil, chondroitin sulfate, etc. are known be helpful in reducing the risk of a second heart attack.
Stress Management
Stress management decreases the rate of heart attack or death in people with coronary heart disease as suggested by some studies. Constant mental pressure weakens the mind and the heart. Thus, if you manage your stress, you can avoid a second heart attack and live a more comfortable life.
Resume Your Relationship
After a heart attack, relationships can become strained. It is important that you try and get back to normal and healthy relationships. Patients are normally hesitant about going back to active sexual relationships because of the myth that resuming sex can cause another heart attack, stroke or sudden death.
Recent studies have showed that there is really no reason to stop sexual activity after a heart attack. However, physicians recommend waiting for at least two weeks after heart attack or surgery before returning to normal sexual activity.
Rehabilitation Centers
Patients can join rehabilitation clinics where they are helped to resume their normal lives. Rehabilitation clinics are widely popular as they boost the confidence of patients and their families.
They also provide tremendous help for brining changes in lifestyles and dealing with doubts and concerns that people have regarding life after heart attack. If all these suggestions are followed properly, it is possible to live a full, high quality life even after a heart attack.
Source : http://www.always-health.com/heartdisease_heartattack_life.html
Life after a heart attack is very different from the life that you led before this incident. You will need to curtail several of your outdoor as well as indoor activities and adopt some habits that you didn’t even like. However, all these changes are necessary in order to live a long life with a healthy heart.
Some of the changes that you may need to bring in your life after a heart attack are as follows:
Modification to Lifestyle
Lifestyle changes play a very important part. The most important thing in this regard is adequate rest and healthy diet. You will need to stop partying late into night, eating lots of junk food, quit smoking and any other drugs. Alcohol consumption also needs to be cut down. Ask your doctor about how much wine you can take with a meal.
Exposure to secondhand smoke should also be avoided as it impairs heart functions and exercise tolerance in heart attack survivors.
Use of Medication
Doctors should be consulted about appropriate medicines for this condition. Aspirin or some other clot-preventing medication should be taken everyday, if aspirin is not recommended. There are various other medicines that are recommended depending on your condition.
Regular Exercise
Staying fit and active after a heart attack helps you live longer and also improves the quality of life. Sporting activities are mostly recommended that can be varied in intensity and can be taken lightly when needed. Swimming is also a good way of staying fit and active.
Even if a patient is not into sports, moderate exercises that help in breathing harder i.e. aerobic exercises are just as beneficial. A doctor should always be consulted before starting an exercise program. Enough water should be taken before, during and after the exercises to stay hydrated.
Diet Control
Diet control plays an important part in keeping your heart healthy. Lowering the cholesterol level is of prime importance for patients who have suffered a heart attack. Studies have proved that lowering cholesterol level can reduce the risk for another heart attack.
Losing weight helps a great deal in reducing cholesterol. Sea-food should be added to the diet, for it helps in losing weight, lowering blood pressure and reducing cholesterol. Studies have shown that people who follow such dietary routines may live longer.
Herbal Treatment
Herbal treatments are becoming popular day by day. Preliminary clinical tests in China suggest that astragalus, an herb, may benefit people after they have suffered a heart attack. As these studies did not aim at showing any survival or symptom reduction benefit, further research is needed to determine whether astragalus would benefit people with heart attacks or angina.
Added Nutritional Supplements
Nutritional supplements like amino acid, vitamin C, co-enzyme Q10, selenium, vitamin E, N-acetyle cysteine, fish oil, chondroitin sulfate, etc. are known be helpful in reducing the risk of a second heart attack.
Stress Management
Stress management decreases the rate of heart attack or death in people with coronary heart disease as suggested by some studies. Constant mental pressure weakens the mind and the heart. Thus, if you manage your stress, you can avoid a second heart attack and live a more comfortable life.
Resume Your Relationship
After a heart attack, relationships can become strained. It is important that you try and get back to normal and healthy relationships. Patients are normally hesitant about going back to active sexual relationships because of the myth that resuming sex can cause another heart attack, stroke or sudden death.
Recent studies have showed that there is really no reason to stop sexual activity after a heart attack. However, physicians recommend waiting for at least two weeks after heart attack or surgery before returning to normal sexual activity.
Rehabilitation Centers
Patients can join rehabilitation clinics where they are helped to resume their normal lives. Rehabilitation clinics are widely popular as they boost the confidence of patients and their families.
They also provide tremendous help for brining changes in lifestyles and dealing with doubts and concerns that people have regarding life after heart attack. If all these suggestions are followed properly, it is possible to live a full, high quality life even after a heart attack.
Source : http://www.always-health.com/heartdisease_heartattack_life.html
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