When we think about blocked arteries, chances are that we are generally thinking about the small arteries that feed blood to the heart, and of course we know that when these small but vital arteries get blocked the result is going to be angina and a strong possibility of a heart attack.

If the blockage to these arteries is diagnosed in time, then the most likely outcome will be the recommendation of angioplasty.

Angioplasty is a technique used to dilate an area of arterial blockage with the help of a catheter that has an inflatable small sausage-shaped balloon at its tip. The balloon catheter is introduced into the femeral artery at the groin and then it is pushed along the femeral artery until it is in position to inflate at the site of the blockage. The travel of the catheter is monitored on an external screen to ensure correct placement.

Angioplasty physically opens the blocked arterial segment and restores blood flow. In some cases, the artery tends to close again immediately after the inflation and in these cases a small device shaped like a small coil spring is inserted to hold the section of artery open. This device is known as a stent.

Since angioplasty is performed through a relatively small incision in the groin it is much less invasive than full bypass surgery and can be repeated more often should the patient develop disease in the same, or another, artery in the future.

If the blockage is too severe, or in some cases the artery damage is too extensive, then full heart bypass surgery will need to be undertaken to graft some small sections of artery that have been almost simultaneously removed from the patients arm or leg to the coronary artery. This graft will start at one side of the blockage and end on the other side of the blockage. Hence the term – bypass.

After angioplasty or bypass, the recovery rate is usually very good and the patient sent home with a low fat diet regime and an exercise regime.

Now here is the flaw.

If you have managed to damage your arteries in the coronary area of your body to the extent that you needed surgery, it is a very strong possibility that you may also have blocked or partially blocked arteries elsewhere in your body.

If this is indeed the case, and my suggestion is that it is highly likely, then surely it should be a priority to do something to try to reverse this situation.

Strangely, the medical profession in general tend to tell you after successful bypass surgery that you need to do the right things to look after your heart for the future – all well and good. But they almost always stop short of implementing anything that might actually reverse the damage that may also still be happening at some other areas of your arterial system.

Athersclorosis – or as it is commonly called, blocked arteries – can be reversed. I am not claiming that this is easy or that there is a magic pill that will put everything right, but none the less, it is possible, and if you have suffered a heart attack, had angina attacks, undergone angioplasty or even been diagnosed with high high blood pressure, then you owe it to yourself and your family to do everything possible to ensure that you put your whole arterial system back on the road to recovery.

WARNING !

You may be experiencing the early warning signs of blocked arteries (atherosclerosis) but you may not be associating this pain and discomfort with heart problems.

Strange though it may sound, the traditional image of a man holding his chest whilst gasping for breath is not the most common pain experience or symptom of a blocked artery sufferer, although it may be that very one that ultimately brings them into the accident and emergency department.

It is very likely that the patient has been experiencing pain and discomfort for some time but has put this down to a myriad of other possible – and less serious – illnesses.

Take the example of my husband. He had angioplasty and a stent procedure some ten years earlier and therefore convinced us all that his chest pain was not a heart problem or angina. He claimed that he of all people would recognize heart pain.

He experienced something that he was convinced was more like indigestion for some eighteen months before he finally had a massive heart attack episode which was followed up with a heart bypass operation.

Typically he would be enjoying a rich meal, for example a Chinese Meal (one of his favourites) but no sooner would he have put his knife and fork down when he would be clutching directly below his chest with one arm and wincing with the pain, which would go off after a few minutes. This would be put down to indigestion, because of the rich food followed by pain.

Another common occurrence would be at the end of the evening just before bed when it was his self imposed job to finally load and switch on the dishwasher, which involves bending to close the door of the dishwasher, he would immediately get a pain in the chest again. This would be put down to a hiatus hernia because it came on after bending.

The pain – below the centre of his sternum – would also be apparent if he undertook anything that involved stooping or bending. So plenty of antacid remedies were taken and they would, strangely, ease the pain which often would disappear within a few minutes of taking this medication.

The pain would however, very often re occur during the night and he found it easier and more comfortable to sleep propped up by some pillows but would frequently complain in the morning of pain below the sternum during the night. He would frequently take antacid medication on several occasions throughout the night.

We got to the stage where we could no longer go for walks for the simple reason that after only a few steps, the pain would come on which would be immobilizing for him for several moments.

Now I can guess what you are thinking. If my husband experienced all these symptoms for so long why didn’t you get him looked at?

Well the answer is, we did. The accident and emergency department performed an ECG on a few occasions when we had rushed there after very severe pain, but unfortunately the ECG results did not indicate a heart attack and we were advised to “take things easy” and return if the pain re-occurred. They took a blood test on one other occasion and came back with the diagnosis of “irritable-bowl syndrome” which added to our reasoning and is one of the reasons why we always put his pains down to digestive problems, and is why he was sure it was not a heart related problem.

On the final occurrence of this type of chest pain, the pain just wouldn’t go away as it had in the past. All the antacids wouldn’t shift it and he spent most of the day clutching his stomach.

He eventually gave in when a second a violent pain started to develop in his right shoulder and he allowed me to call the ambulance at 10 pm. Prior to this he had insisted that it was another bout of indigestion and flatly refused to even consider attending the hospital.

By 5 am the next day he had been transferred from our local hospital to the main hospital and was in intensive care awaiting heart bypass surgery. He suffered several very unpleasant heart attack episodes whilst in hospital awaiting surgery.

So please heed this warning.

If you are suffering from any of the above symptoms, do not delay! Get to the hospital right away.

If the symptoms are not caused by a problem with your heart then this is great news and you can relax and get the appropriate treatment, but if it is your heart, and you won’t be reading this article unless you have a suspicion that it may be, then you will be in the right place to get treatment sooner rather than later!

My husband is now fully recovered and he is as fit as a fiddle. He can once again walk without pain in his chest and – deep joy – he can enjoy his favourite Chinese food without any suffering any pain afterwards!

It is a sad fact that most people whose suffer a heart attack, do not see it coming. We tend to have this idea that it will always be “someone else”.

Did you know that heart disease is the biggest killer in the western world and it is not declining as the number one way in which to die. Far from it, death from heart related disease is on the increase.

Cardiovascular Disease Statistics for the period January – December 2006 suggests that 80,000,000 people in the United States alone have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The results are broken down as follows:

high blood pressure – 73,600,000 people.
coronary heart disease – 16,800,000 people.
Myocardial infarction (acute heart attack) – 7,900,000 people.
Angina pectoris (chest pain caused by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle) – 9,800,000 people.
Stroke – 6,500,000 people.
Heart Failure — 5,700,000 people.

Cardiovascular diseases claimed 864,480 lives in 2005 alone which is 35.3 percent of all deaths or 1 of every 2.8 deaths.

Well over 500,000 people undergo heart bypass surgery every year in America alone. The world wide figure is quite staggering.

Since this trend is increasing, you can clearly see that action is needed, but what action should – or can – you take?

One of the great problems is that there is a great deal of controversy regarding what constitutes a (heart) healthy life style.

There are those who would have us believe that if we take an over the counter medication that is made up from a mixture of statin drugs and blood thinning drugs, then our risk of heart related health problems will reduce.

To further confuse the issue, there is a large body of health professionals who claim that the use of statin drugs not only puts us at risk from severe side effects from those drugs, but the use of such drugs has no proven statistical relevance in reducing the death rate from coronary related causes.

It has long been claimed that a low fat, low sodium (salt) diet is heart healthy. The question that this then poses is: why should we find that the increase in heart related disease seems to increase in direct proportion to the increase in popularity to this form of diet?

One thing that all of the experts do seem to agree on, is that we should take some form regular exercise every day, and that we should in general eat less than is currently the average.

They also agree that our diet would be better if it included a regular but varied selection of fresh fruit and vegetables.

They all definitely agree that tobacco smoking is a contributing factor to heart disease.

Beyond this, it would appear that the experts just cannot agree, so it falls upon us to do our best to sift through the reports and try to find a sensible path to tread.

If we get it wrong, there is every chance that we will end our days as one of the ever increasing Cardiac Event statistics.