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1. Family History: Ask your parents, siblings and find out if they or anyone else in the family had a heart attack or coronary artery disease. Be specific many people can have “Heart Problems,” but you must ask about heart attack or coronary artery disease. Even if extended family members (aunts uncles, cousins) have had a heart attack, you may still be at risk of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.
2. High blood pressure: Studies done in New England in the 1970’s have shown a direct correlation of high blood pressure and the subsequent risk of strokes and a heart attack. Controlling high blood pressure is imperative in preventing not only a heart attack but also a stroke. Blood pressure has two readings –a higher number(systolic) and a lower number(diastolic). A higher number greater than 140 and or a lower number greater than 95 measured three separate times indicates hypertension.
3. Diabetes: This disease affects every organ of the body. All the arteries of the body are susceptible to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is an enexoriable process that starts with accumulation of lipids in between the wall of the arteries (there are 3 walls to an artery). Indeed, atherosclerosis is defined as the abnormal deposition of lipids in the arterial walls. Diabetes is the abnormal accumulation of sugars in the blood stream. Organs such as eyes, kidneys, arteries, and peripheral nervous system all become damaged by diabetes. The arteries of the heart are particularly susceptible to damage. Damage to these arteries can lead to a premature atherosclerosis and subsequently to heart attack. Because diabetes can affect the nervous system, a diabetic person having a heart attack may not feel any pain!
4. High saturated fat & higher cholesterol diet: This is the source of the lipid which accumulates in the arteries abnormally, (the athersoclerosis process). Reducing lipid and fat in your diet can directly reduce the atherosclerosis process. But diet is not enough. The serum lipids must be checked periodically to verify the decrease in cholesterol and triglycerides. Scrupulous attention to diet and its secondary effect on the blood lipid levels are crucial steps in avoiding heart attack. If the blood lipid values are elevated despite best attempts at reducing cholesterol and fat in the diet, then seek attention of your doctor. He/she may need to start you on a medication to reduce your cholesterol.
5. Sedentary lifestyle: Lack of exercise has been shown to increase the atherosclerotic process. In fact, an inactive individual is twice as likely to suffer a heart attack as one who remains even moderately active.
6. Smoking: Smoking accelerates the atherosclerotic process by four to five times normal., thereby increasing the risk of a heart attack four times that of a nonsmoker. Remember passive smoking is in some studies more harmful than smoking directly. Now there is a new defined entity: third hand smoking. This is the emanation of smoke residue that gets absorbed into furniture, walls and carpeting. The best solution: DON’T SMOKE!
7. Narcotic Drugs: Methamphetamines and cocaine are both known to cause a heart attack. These heart attacks are often massive causing the victim (the drug user) to die before ever reaching the hospital. If the patient does make it to the Emergency Department, he/she has usually suffered a massive heart attack that renders them forever disabled from heart failure. DON’T DO DRUGS!
Identification of these risk factors is just one of the actions you can take to avoid a heart attack. Seek the attention of your Doctor; discuss with your Doctor all of your risk factors. Let your Doctor make the plan to prevent a heart disaster.
Immediately call your doctor if you are experiencing any of these symptoms: Chest discomfort of any kind, shortness of breath, arm pain, dyspnea, swelling, and dizziness.
If you are having one or any of these symptoms, you may be having a heart attack. DO NOT WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE. Have it checked out by a Doctor:
Learn CPR and BLS: It may save your loved ones life!
Reference:
ACC/AHA Guidelines for Sudden Cardiac Death and CPR.
A heart attack is a potentially disastrous situation in a person’s life, irrevocably changing his or her life forever. Indeed a heart attack can take your life. This year 4 to 5 million people will be evaluated in US Emergency Rooms for chest pain. Of these 2 million will be diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (chest pain arising from active coronary disease). 1.5 million will experience an acute heart attack. Of the 1.5 million patients suffering an acute heart attack, one-half million will die with 50% of these deaths occurring within the first hour. Including those who die before reaching the hospital, the first prolonged attack of pain has a 34% fatality rate and in 17% of patients it is the first, last and only symptom. Against these staggering odds, is there any way we can prevent this disastrous outcome? Identifying those factors in our life that directly increase the risk of a heart attack is the first step in avoiding this potential 911 call.
I continued with Dr. Nanavati until I moved from Redding to Southern California a few years later. Around the same time, Dr. Nanavati relocated his practice to San Diego. Even though I was living some three-plus hours away, I continued with Dr. Nanavati as my cardiologist. Most recently, he has again relocated his practice, this time back to Redding. When I asked him why are you moving back to Redding, his reply: “its home for me. “ Even given what would be a 10+ hour drive from where I live to Redding, I will continue with him as my primary Cardiologist.
Why, you might ask, am I so dedicated to Dr. Nanavati? There must certainly be other cardiologists where you live. Is he so extraordinary that he warrants following him 600 miles away?
The answers to those and similar questions are simple: 1. Of all the doctors I have had over the years, none of them cares for their patients with the devotion, the expertise, and individualized concern that Dr. Nanavati provides. I could be seen by local cardiologists where I live. Being “seen,” however, is not the same as “caring”, a Doctor that gives me confidence that I am getting the best care possible. In fact, when I went to a cardiologist where I live, I was seen by the physician’s assistant and not even by the Doctor! When I go to Dr. Nanavati, I see him, not a PA.
2. Dr. Nanavati felt I required a special pacemaker. While he implants regular pacemakers, he doesn’t implant these special device I require, he referred me to an Electric heart Dr. I felt better after the new device was placed. What Im noticed about Dr. Nanavati: if he cannot help, he will not hesitate to send his patient to someone with special expertise required.
3. While many people say that Drs treat their patients like his own. Dr. Nanavati really follows this adage. His own Father was a heart patient and so he genuinely empathizes with his patients.
4. It’s become his mission to give the best possible care to his patients. In San Diego, he perfected his skills in percutaneous intervention working with some of the best in the field. He also learned more techniques for valve replacement and travels regularly to Europe to perfect the skill. He regularly attends Cardiology conferences to stay ahead of the latest advances in the field.
What I am saying here is not just my opinion. I recently conducted a survey of Dr. Nanavati’s former Redding patients. If I was impressed by the positive recommendations of the teaching staff at the college, I was even more so by the comments in that survey, among which were things like: “Caring;” “Professional beyond any expectations;” and. “If Dr. Nanavati was still here, there is no question but that he would be my cardiologist; he is that good.” Well, its not just his previous Redding patients that feel this way: his patients in San Diego feel the same way!
My loyalty to Dr. Nanavati and his past patients’ admiration of him for the high quality care he provides can be summed up in one phrase: The last bastion of patient advocacy is a Doctor who puts his patients first and– takes the time and makes the effort to really know his patients.
In short, Redding is so very fortunate to have Dr. Vimal Nanavati as an Interventional Cardiologist. If you are looking for the best of the best, you could not do better than having him as your Doctor. He is that good.
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