Heart Attack Risk and The Cult of Thin-ness

Heart Attack Risk and Cult of Thin-ness

Generally, a young, successful woman has almost no heart attack risk whatsoever. But decisions that look like no big deal can often add up to big consequences when you’re talking about heart attack risk.

Bulimia and Heart Attack Risk

Bulimia is very hard on a girl’s heart. It leads to malnutrition and dehydration, and this can raise heart attack risk to extreme levels. Even a very healthy body can quickly become so unbalanced in electrolytes that it can take an army of doctors and nurses to fix.

Low Blood Pressure and Heart Attack Risk

Malnutrition leads quickly to low blood pressure – lowered body temperature (the body doesn’t have sufficient fat to regulate itself), dehydration – these raise the heart attack risk to unacceptable levels.

Diet Pills and Heart Attack Risk

Diet Pills are perfectly safe, except for these possible side effects: tremors, confusion, hallucinations, shallow breathing, renal failure, heart attack and convulsions. It’s kind of bad when the heart attack risk level for a young girl is 100%.

Being Thin and Heart Attack Risk

Gaining and losing and gaining and losing can be very stressful on your heart as well, increasing your heart attack risk over the long term for actions that seem so innocent and common. It’s not worth dying to be thin – make up your mind early not to become obsessed with weight.

Heart Attack Risk and HAR!HAR!

Heart Attack Risk and HAR! HAR!

Some of us unfortunate souls have the kind of off-center brain that likes the humor of The Simpsons.

So, think about the Simpsons bully who says Har! Har! It’s derisive and irritating, isn’t it?

Heart Attack Risk - The Acronym
It’s also a convenient acronym for Heart Attack Risk. And the factors that determine your Heart Attack Risk (Har! Har!) are all those things that Homer exemplifies – carrying too much weight, not getting any exercise, ignoring signs of diabetes, ignoring signs of high blood pressure; well, you get the picture, and the picture is Homer Simpson. It’s not pretty.

Heart Attack Risk Har!Har! in Daily Life
Some of us unfortunate souls have the popular culture coursing through our veins, and that means that we’re apt to pop out with a HAR!HAR! (or an extended Ex---elent). So now everything we say it ourselves, or hear it elsewhere, we will think Heart Attack Risk, and we will think whether our heart attack risk comes close to that of our own Homer.

HAR!HAR! Heart Attack Risk! Heart Attack Risk!

Heart Attack Risk, Diabetes, Holidays

Heart Attack Risk and Diabetes

Here are some (perhaps surprising) statistics about heart attack risk, diabetes, and stroke risk – first, diabetes:

12.0 million, or 11.2% of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes

11.5 million, or 10.2% of all women aged 20 years or older have diabetes

Heart Attack Risk and Diabetes Statistics

Everyone concerned about protecting themselves and their families from the risk of heart attack should take into account these statistics about diabetes and heart attack risk:

• In 2004, heart disease was noted on 68% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older. (Read: diabetes increases heart attack risk)
• Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes. (Read: diabetes increases heart attack risk)

Heart Attack Risk, Diabetes, and Holidays

It’s perhaps the most frenzied time of the holiday season, and the irony is that most of us wives and mothers are concentrating our energies on how to fill up our loved ones to overflowing with simple sugars and carbs. To prove we love them.

Perhaps this holiday season it’s time to make our holiday preparations keeping in mind just a bit the un-celebratory notions of diabetes and heart attack risk. So that we’ll have many more happy family celebrations.

Heart Attack, The Risk: The Horror Story

Heart Attack, The Risk: The Horror Story

Panic with feelings of impending doom. Pounding heartbeats. Sweating for no apparent reason. Dizziness with weakness.

This conjures images of a heroine running in the dark from an unknown villain – think “Cat Woman” – the original Val Lewton one.

Heart Attack, The Risk: The Horror Story

Heart Attack, The Risk: The Horror Story is now playing, not at your local multiplex, but in the bodies of women all over the U.S.

Heart Attack Risk in Real Life

You may well think that your heart attack risk is negligible and as unlikely as a fable, but you’d be wrong – it’s fabled in quite another sense. Among all US women who die each year, one in four dies of a heart attack.

Heart Attack Risk: The Symptoms

Each sentence of the first paragraph represents a genuine, real-life heart attack symptom. We’re accustomed to seeing heart attacks in movies represented by the sudden pain in the left arm and chest pains.

But about a third of women who have heart attacks do not report any chest pain. When it comes to your heart attack risk, don’t rely on movies for your info – for women, the story is very different.

Teen Brain, Smoking, Stroke Risk

Teen Brain, Smoking, Stroke Risk, Heart Attack Risk

Those experts have some data to indicate that the teen brain is not yet mature; those experts say this excuses them, but mothers do not agree. Smoking increases a number of risks to future health, including stroke risk and heart attack risk.

Smoking Doubles Stroke Risk
Teenage brains are certainly immature, but they are capable of understanding what’s important to them. Say, “Smoking doubles stroke risk” to them, and they won’t hear it. Say, “Smoking makes your breath smell” and you’ve got a better chance, or “Smoking makes your teeth yellow.”

Smoking Doubles Stroke Risk Closer to Home
The best way to keep your teen from smoking is not to smoke yourself, or to quit if you already smoke. You already know that getting your teen to do what’s good for him is to help him envision a future for himself, so that he sets goals and establishes plans to achieve those goals. The same goes for you – if you want to see all those grandchildren and great-grandchildren, don't risk a stroke -- stop smoking.

Heart Attack Risk and Women

Mommies and Heart Attack Risk

Mommies are assumed to know certain health-related facts: they are able to identify a chicken pox bump; they have magical powers with scraped knees; they can take your temperature by kissing your forehead.

But it’s surprising how many mommies don’t know the details of their own heart attack risk, nor the fact that heart attack symptoms are different for women than for men.

Heart Attack Risk and Women
Among all US women who die each year, one in four dies of a heart attack. That should get your attention. We all have a certain level of heart attack risk, and it’s necessary therefore to know the symptoms of heart attacks in women.

Some of the symptoms are the same as for men: pain or pressure in the center of the chest, shortness of breath, radiating pain in the arm. But women also experience radiating pain between the shoulder blades, neck, and jaw and upper abdominal pain.

Don’t Deny Your Heart Attack Risk:
Women’s heart attack symptoms can begin as milder symptoms that mimic other problems, and women, accustomed to their role as caregivers, often ignore their own heart attack risk and possible symptoms: flu-like symptoms, including nausea and indigestion, sudden extreme fatigue, weakness, dizziness, sweating for no apparent reason.

Again, Don’t Deny Your Heart Attack Risk:
One symptom women experience far more than men is a sense of impending doom, sometimes accompanied by panic attacks. Never forget that caring for your family includes caring for your own health; it is vital to assess your personal risk of heart attack and to take measures to keep your heart safe.

Heart Attack Risk and Cute Little Quiz

Heart Attack Risk? Calculate Now!


You know how men are -- you've got them in your life on a daily basis. And, despite the occasional complaint, you want to keep those men in your life.

One way to help ensure this is to keep everybody aware of potential health problems, including the risk of heart attack.

Heart Attack Risk Calculator:




Heart Attack Risk and Cute Little Quizzes:

Okay, it is true that this kind of quiz is generally more attractive to women than to men, but it's also true that certain Type-A men like to be tested because they like to win, and Type-A is considered by some to be a factor when you're measuring heart attack risk.

So, if your man is avoiding going to the doctor, avoiding vegetables, avoiding exercise, avoiding vitamins, avoiding avoiding cigarettes, get him to take this quiz. A pretty easy way to potentially keep that man in your life, healthy, for a long time.