All Entries Tagged With: "heart Disease"
How to Cope with Coronary Heart Disease
Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, results from an accumulation of calcified fatty plaque in the blood vessels. Atherosclerosis has been called a “silent killer.” For one out of four victims, the first sign of trouble is sudden death. Lesions in which function has been impaired by atherosclerotic growths develop in Western man at an […]
How to Tell the Children When We First Learn We Suffer From Heart Disease
A family is a unit and what happens to one of its members can send ripples through to all the others no matter how young. John says: ‘I remember hearing about a teenage boy whose father went into hospital for a heart operation. The child really started rebelling and ended up seeing a counselor. It […]
How to Learn to Think More Positively During Heart Disease
Professor Lewin argues that replacing the mistaken beliefs that many people have about heart disease, ‘cardiac misconceptions’ as he calls them – with more realistic facts is one of the most significant ways in which you can help yourself recover. ‘Few people believe which were the real risk factors responsible for their getting heart disease. […]
How to help your Doctor help you During Heart Disease
Doctors are not magicians and it can sometimes be difficult for them to interpret symptoms, especially if, as they often do, they include rather vague complaints such as ‘feeling peculiar’ or ‘feeling uneasy’. Even if you do have the classic symptom of chest pain it is not always easy for the doctor to identify the […]
How to Make Practical Arrangements for Heart Disease
In most areas you will be notified when you have to go into hospital a week or two beforehand. You may be told to stop certain drugs beforehand – so visit the doctors office to check with your doctor or consultant. During the run-up to your operation you will also need to make practical arrangements: […]
How to Make a Positive Choice During Heart Disease
Choosing to use complementary therapies, of course, is not usually an either/or option. Most people who use such treatments do so alongside medical treatment and you may even find that your doctor has one or more complementary therapists, such as a homeopath, acupuncturist and so on working at the surgery. Turning to complementary therapies as […]
How to Live With Angina Associated with Heart Disease
Unless you discovered you had heart disease when you had a heart attack the chances are high that you sought medical help because of angina, or chest pain. Most people with angina are sent home with a prescription for one of the nitrate drugs – usually glyceryl trinitrate spray which is puffed under your tongue […]
How to Get Support When You Have Heart Disease
Supportive though your partner, friends and family may be, some of your nearest and dearest may appear insensitive to your needs. This may simply be because of their own desire to put what has happened to you behind them and re-establish a sense of normality. A gentle reminder that you still need help and support […]
How to Deal with Unmet Needs When Suffering from Heart Disease
In a perfect world everyone who has experienced a heart attack would receive high quality aftercare and follow-up. British family doctor Hugh Bothell outlined the ideal scenario in an article in the British Medical Journal in 1996: ‘Cardiologists in district hospitals could coordinate their aftercare, general practitioners could visit patients soon after discharge; and follow-up […]
How to Deal With Immediate Reactions after Diagnosed with Heart Disease
If you have been told you have heart disease both you and those around you may feel very frightened, especially if diagnosis was sudden or unexpected. Linda recalls: The heart evokes a lot of emotion. When Len was told he needed surgery we walked out in silence holding each other’s hands. I thought I ought […]
How to Change Your Job Because of Heart Disease
As part of the process of taking stock of your life you may decide to quit or change jobs. Some people with heart disease feel that work no longer takes such a priority and feel they want to spend more time with their families. If you don’t like your job – and you can afford […]
How to Deal with Pain and Discomfort in Heart Disease
As after any operation you can expect to feel some pain. In the early days after your operation you will be given painkillers. Do not be afraid to tell the staff if you are in pain and if you do not find the drugs you have been given effective don’t just grin and bear it. […]