Second Heart Attack: How to Prevent Another One

The ability of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to treat heart diseases such as acute myocardial infarctions has continued to improve. People who suffered from a heart attack are quickly administered with different medications as well as medical procedures including surgeries to prevent the damage from worsening or for treating the disease itself to prevent death. However, almost 20% of all patients who suffered from a heart attack are at risk of having a second heart attack over a period of three years. This event may likely be caused by a new blockage apart from the worry over the previous attack.

Preventing a Second Heart Attack
Due to the fact that all patients who suffered from heart attack are still at risk of a second heart attack, medical professionals have found ways to prevent this from happening. There are a lot of ways to lessen these risks. These methods, which have been carefully researched and studied, reduce these risks as well as improve the survival rate of heart attack patients. Aside from certain medications that can be used, there are also lifestyle medications that a heart attack patient can take to avoid this from happening.

Medications to Prevent a Second Heart Attack
Through thorough studies and in depth research, it has been found out that beta blockers as well as aspirin reduces the risks of heart attack and stroke patients to suffer from a second one. These drugs include aspirin, atenolol, metoprolol, as well as propranol. ACE inhibitors also help by assisting the patient’s healing process ad help improve the chances of long term survival rate.

However, ACE inhibitors can only be used on select patients, especially those who suffered from major damages on their previous attack. Stroke and heart attack patients are also recommended to take multi vitamins on a daily basis that contains 400-800 micrograms of folic acid. Folic acid helps diminish the levels of homocysteine, a component that is known to aggravate the medical condition called atherosclerosis.

Lifestyle Modifications to Avoid Having a Second Heart Attack
Suffering from a heart attack should be an indication for patients to have certain lifestyle modifications to help prevent a second heart attack and prolong their life. Most heart attack patients understand that if they choose not to make these changes, they are putting their lives at risk. Since these people know how scary and dangerous a heart attack can be, they already have the motivation to change their unhealthy habits in order for them to live healthier and improve their chances of survival. For those patients who will be able to manage making these changes, they will not only be lessening their risk of having another attack, but they will surely benefit from feeling, being, and looking better than the time before their first heart attack.

Regular Exercises
It is a known and proven fact that people who maintain a healthy lifestyle find time to perform physical activities such as regular exercises. In order to prevent a second heart attack from happening, you, as a patient, should start with your daily exercise regimen as well. It is important that you begin slowly and increase the intensity gradually. Consult with your doctor about the physical activities that you can perform as well as the exercise that you can do in order not to over exert effort that may result in aggravating your condition further. There are a lot of health benefits that exercising provides. However, you would not want to put too much strain on your damaged heart so make sure that you obtain clearance from your cardiologist first on what activities you can perform.

Stop the Habit of Smoking
According to medical professionals, cigar, pipe and cigarette smoking are one of the top reasons of different heart diseases. For you to avoid a second heart attack from happening, it is important that you learn to let this habit go. Heart attack patients who are smokers are mostly recommended to use nicotine patches, in order for them to stop their dangerous habit. If you would really want to prolong your life and prevent another heart attack, then now is the time to stop smoking.

Lower Down your Cholesterol Level
The low density lipoprotein level, also known as the LDL level, is the level of bad cholesterol in your bloodstream. These are found in food types that contain high amounts of transfats as well as saturated fats. These are found typically in the butter milk content of dairy products, the fat content in red meat, as well as eggs. In order for patients to prevent a second heart attack from occurring, people with cardiovascular diseases should remove or lessen their intake of these food types. The American Heart Association has recommended that only one percent of the daily calorie intake should come from products that contain transfats, and only seven (or below) percent should come from products containing saturated fats.

Build a Diet Plan from Omega-Rich Food Products, Fruits and Vegetables
For patients who cannot remove certain food types from their diet on one go, it is recommended that they start building their diet plans from fruits, vegetables, and food products that are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Fruits and vegetables contain many different vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that help the body stay healthy. Fruits and vegetables may differ depending on the benefits they provide, so it is ideal that patients build their diet plans with as much variation as possible. To avoid a second heart attack, it is also recommended that patients with cardiovascular diseases try to eat as much sea food products that contain high levels of Omega-3 acids as possible. These foods are known for their ability to promote better cardiac health.