Community Blog

February is American Heart Month

By Monal Patel - Assistant Outreach Coordinator

 The goal of American Heart Month is to raise awareness about heart disease and stroke. Heart disease is the Number 1 cause of death in the United States. Stroke is the Number 3 cause of death, and a leading cause of serious disability. It’s so important to reduce your risk factors, and to know the warning signs that can help you reduce the likelihood of serious complications.

Heart attacks can be sudden and intense, or start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Here are heart attack warning signs for men:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
• Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

Women experience the same heart attack symptoms as men, most commonly chest pain or discomfort, but women are more likely than men to experience the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

Here are signs that could indicate a potential stroke:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

HCR’s Heart Failure and Stroke specialty programs could be of great help to you or your loved one. Our Heart Failure team is led by experienced cardiac nurses, physical and occupational therapists, and registered dieticians. In addition to providing expert care and education, we utilize state of the art technology to keep a close eye on patients to identify changes in health condition before they can become more serious problems. Our Stroke team maintains a specialized certification in stroke care known as the “Neuro-Development Treatment” that leverages normal, spontaneous responses involved in voluntary movement to improve the speed and extent of rehabilitation. We also provide patient and family education to reduce the likelihood of another stroke.