Be Healthy Heart Attack

You would think that a woman’s heart is just a smaller version of a man’s. And in some ways it is. It has four chambers and is nourished by a network of arteries. But a closer look can show some differences.

The heart has a pretty big job. It feeds the entire body. With every beat it distributes life-saving oxygen and nutrients to vital organs and muscles.

Wayne Ysaguirre, 55, was no stranger to exercise. When the Roxbury YMCA opened at 5 a.m., he was one of the first through the doors. He had a routine — an hour and a half of aerobics on one of the Y’s exercise machines. He at first ignored the pain in his chest that occurred when he picked up the pace of his workout. Since the pain subsided when he slowed a bit, it was not serious, he reasoned.

Even with ready access to emergency medical services, many people experiencing a heart attack drive themselves to the hospital. They assume they can get there faster and prefer not to cause a fuss. But an ambulance can reach you before you reach the hospital. They have the right of way and can run through red lights. It’s not necessarily the speed that’s important here. Your condition can worsen while driving and, although not common, you can go into cardiac arrest. Survival of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests is very low.  

If you asked Megan Corbin to describe a typical heart attack victim, she undoubtedly would not include herself. Yet, last year at the age of 30, that’s exactly what happened to her.

Anezi Uzendu doesn’t remember much of what happened that day in 2016. Perhaps that’s a good thing

Food does more than satisfy one’s palate. Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed four healthy eating patterns that emphasize higher intake of fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and lower intake of red and processed meats and sugar-sweetened beverages.

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services took a huge step forward in an attempt to encourage people to participate regularly in some form of physical activity.