Resources

Chest Pain

Conduct a self-evaluation for heart disease using the My Life Check tool at https://mylifecheck.heart.org.

Learn more about Hands-Only CPR with our fact sheet or at redcross.org.

Sponsor a contest/raffle for local EHAC (Early Heart Attack Care) ambassadors to encourage family, friends, neighbors and church groups to log on at deputyheartattack.org and take the EHAC oath.

From a stress test to an angioplasty, learn about our specialty services.

Common Heart Medications

There are many different medications that can help treat heart disease. Learn what type of medication you’re taking, what it treats and how to take it safely. If you have questions about why you need a medication or how it works, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Medications are prescribed in just the right doses for your heart condition. They work only if you take them exactly as directed. So, while your doctor can prescribe the best medications for you, it’s up to you to take them correctly.

Keep a List

Keep a list of all your medications. Include your dosage and the time(s) you take them. If any changes are made to your medications, be sure to update your list and share with any new health care provider that you visit.

Common Types of Medication:

  • ACE inhibitors: treat high blood pressure and heart failure.
  • Antiarrhythmics: help slow and regulate a fast or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia).
  • Anticoagulants: help reduce the risk that a blood clot will form and block the artery (thrombosis).
  • Antihypertensives: help treat high blood pressure (hypertension).
  • Aspirin: (taken regularly at the right dosage) helps reduce blood clots.
  • Beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers: help treat high blood pressure and may also help prevent chest pain (angina) and regulate an arrhythmia.
  • Digitalis/digoxin: helps treat heart failure and may help an irregular heartbeat.
  • Diuretics: help treat high blood pressure and heart failure and help your body get rid of excess water.
  • Lipid-lowering medications, such as statins: help control your cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
  • Nitrates: help prevent and treat angina.
  • Vasodilators: help blood flow more easily through the arteries (calcium channel blockers and nitrates are vasodilators).

Heart Healthy Choices

Your diet has a big impact on your heart health. In fact, eating healthier can improve several of your heart risks at once, such as managing weight, cholesterol and blood pressure. You can make heart healthy changes without giving up all the foods and flavors you love.

Getting Started

  • Talk to your health care provider about eating plans, such as the DASH diet. You may also be referred to a dietitian.
  • Change a few things at a time. Give yourself time to get used to a few eating changes before adding more.
  • Work to create a tasty, healthy eating plan that you can stick to for the rest of your life.

Goals for Healthy Eating

Some tips to improve your eating habits:

  • Limit saturated fats and trans fats. Saturated fats raise your levels of cholesterol, so keep these fats to a minimum. They are found in foods such as fatty meats, whole milk, cheese and palm and coconut oils. Avoid trans fats because they lower good cholesterol as well as raise bad cholesterol. Trans fats are most often found in processed foods.
  • Reduce sodium (salt) intake. Eating too much salt may increase your blood pressure. Limit your sodium intake to 2,400 milligrams (mg) per day, or less if your health care provider recommends it. Dining out less often and eating fewer processed foods are great ways to decrease the amount of salt you consume.
  • Manage your calories. Your body burns calories for fuel, but if you eat more calories than your body burns, the extras are stored as fat. Your health care provider can help you create a diet plan to manage your calories. This will likely include eating healthier foods as well as exercising regularly. To help you track your progress, keep a diary to record what you eat and how often you exercise.

Choose the Right Foods

Aim to make these foods staples of your diet. If you have diabetes, however, you may have different recommendations:

  • Fruits and vegetables provide plenty of nutrients without a lot of calories. At meals, fill half your plate with these foods. Split the other half of you plate between whole grains and lean protein.
  • Whole grains are high in fiber and rich in vitamins and nutrients. Good choices include whole-wheat bread, pasta and brown rice.
  • Lean proteins give you nutrition with less fat. Choose fish, skinless chicken and beans.
  • Low-fat or nonfat dairy provide nutrients without a lot of fat. Try low-fat or nonfat milk, cheese or yogurt.
  • Healthy fats can be good for you in small amounts. These are unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, nuts and fish. Try to have at least 2 servings per week of fatty fish such as salmon and tuna. These contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for your heart. Flaxseed is another source of heart-healthy fat.

Read Food Labels

Healthy eating starts at the grocery store. Be sure to pay attention to food labels on packaged foods. Look for products that are high in fiber and protein, and low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Avoid products that contain trans-fat, and pay close attention to serving size. For instance, if you plan to eat 2 servings, double all the numbers on the label.

Prepare Food Correctly

A key part of healthy cooking is cutting down on added fat and salt. Search the internet for lower-fat, lower-sodium recipes and tips, such as:

  • Remove fat from meat and skin from poultry before cooking.
  • Skim fat from the surface of soups and sauces.
  • Broil, boil, bake, steam and microwave food without added fats.
  • Choose ingredients that spice up your food without adding calories, fat or sodium. Try these items: horseradish, hot sauce, lemon, mustard, nonfat salad dressings and vinegar. For salt-free herbs and spices, try basil, cilantro, cinnamon, pepper and rosemary.

Identifying Your Heart Risk

What Are Your Risk Factors?

A risk factor increases your chance of having heart disease. Some risk factors can’t be controlled, such as age or family history of heart disease, but most others can be managed by making lifestyle changes and taking medications. For each risk factor you reduce, your chance of heart attack and stroke goes down. And the length and quality of life may go up.

Risks You Can Manage

  • Abnormal cholesterol levels - Abnormal levels of cholesterol can increase your risk for developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), which can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other problems. Lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise and weight management can help you improve your cholesterol, but you may also need medication.
  • Diabetes – Having a high level of sugar in your blood can damage your arteries if not kept under control. Diabetes makes you more likely to have a silent heart attack (one without symptoms). You’re at risk if your A1C (the amount of sugar in your blood) is 7% or higher or if your eAG (estimated average glucose) is 154 or above.

    The A1C test shows as a percentage. But it can also show as a number that estimates the average glucose. The eAG number is like the numbers on your daily glucose monitor. Both A1C and eAG measure the amount of glucose that sticks to a protein in red blood cells called hemoglobin.

    Your health care provider will help you figure out what your A1C or eAG should be. Your target number will depend on your age, general health and other factors. Your treatment plan may need to be altered if your current number is too high.
  • Excess weight - Being overweight leads to other risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Excess weight around the waist or stomach increases your heart disease risk the most. You’re at risk if your waist circumference is more than 35 inches (women) or 40 inches (men) or if your body mass index (BMI) is greater than 25.
  • High blood pressure - High blood pressure (hypertension) occurs when blood pushes too hard against artery walls as it flows through them. This damages the artery lining. In general, you’re at risk if you have blood pressure of 120/80 or higher. Blood pressure of 140/90 is considered high blood.
  • Lack of physical activity - If you’re not active, problems with diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and weight are more likely. You’re at risk if you exercise less than 40 minutes per day, on fewer than 3 to 4 days a week.
  • Smoking - This is the most important risk factor you can change. Smoking damages arteries and makes it easier for plaque to build up. Smokers are also at higher risk of blood clots (which can block arteries) and stroke. Smoking includes cigarettes, cigars or a pipe.
  • Stress and strong emotions - Stressful events and feelings can raise heart rate and blood pressure. Stress can also bring on feelings of depression, anxiety and anger. These feelings do not directly lead to heart disease, but they do affect overall health and make quality of life worse.