Although heart disease is widespread in our community, fear and misconccptions about it can cause as much distress as the disease itself.
1. A heart attack does not mean the end of a useful life
The belief that the heart-attack victim was no longer of any use to society used to be widespread up until the 1950s, even among doctors. Modern experience with rehabilitation techniques shows that about three-quarters of all patients who recover from a heart attack are able to return to their former activities. By eliminating their risk factors, many heart-attack patients actually become healthier and stronger than before their attack.
2. The patient with heart disease does not need to rest all the time
Certainly in the acute phase after a heart attack the healing process is helped by rest. The need for rest varies with each case, but generally speaking the healing process is well advanced within two or three weeks and the patient can gradually increase his level of daily activity. Once healing is complete (within about two months) further rest does not achieve anything and may in fact increase any disability.
3. One coronary does not necessarily lead to another
Although it is true that one heart attack raises the chances of subsequent attacks, the risks should not be exaggerated. Although further attacks may occur, it is very common for heart attack patients to live out their life span without a recurrence.
4. Cigarettes do hurt women and teenagers.
The idea that cigarettes harm men only is quite wrong. Statistics for men are used more often because they have been smoking longer and are thus more easily studied. But the risks are high in both sexes.
5. Just because Eskimos and African tribesmen eat a lot of fat without ill effect, we can't do the same.
The fact that certain relatively small communities around the world have the ability to take a high saturated-fat, high-cholesterol diet without suffering from coronary heart disease does not mean that the advice given about diet is dubious. Scientists are not yet sure why some people can advoid any ill effects from such a diet.
For the great mass of people living in the industrialised Western nations there is no doubt that diet appears to play a major role in the development of heart disease. Communities such as the Masai tribe in Africa, the Eskimos and certain American Indian tribes can be regarded as exceptions to the general rule, and often in such cases there is some clearly identifiable factor, such as physical activity, which outweighs the effects of the diet.
See "heart healthy diet for cardiac patients" for the best cardiac diet plan.
The best chance of reducing the unnecessary toll of heart disease lies in prevention
If all people were to eliminate their risk factors, the death rate from heart disease would fall dramatically. The National Heart Foundation, through its education and community service programs, is trying to persuade people to lower their risks. However, success in this effort will be achieved only when everyone becomes much more aware of what can be done.
All sections of society from government bodies down need to accept the situation and the possibilities for saving lives, and take the necessary steps to fight what is people's most serious health problem.
One of the important advances in medical science in recent years has been the recognition that we must actually look for those who are at risk, rather than wait for serious disease to occur.
A regular visit to a doctor for a health check is an important step.
Mass screening for high blood pressure or high blood fats is presently being tested and may prove to be just as valuable in controlling heart disease as mass x-ray screening was for tuberculosis.