Immediately after a heart attack, you will receive very detailed instructions on how to care for yourself. You should follow these instructions carefully. Here are some general guidelines that should be followed after heart attack to help with prevention.
You may usually return to work and other activities after about 2 weeks. You can drive after about 1 week after leaving the hospital, and travel in an airplane after about 2 weeks. All of these are under the condition that you feel fine and are free of symptoms.
You will follow-up frequently will your health care provider. Coronary heart disease is a chronic condition that needs to be monitored and controlled. Controlling the risk factors associated with coronary heart disease only slows the pace. Angioplasty, stenting, and bypass surgery are not cures; rather they alleviate the symptoms. The disease may recur.
You will be watched for the following developments to prevent another heart attack:
– New symptoms or signs of disease progression through tests and examinations
– Periodic treadmill or other stress tests will be performed to watch for the onset of silent heart attacks
Your blood pressure and cholesterol levels will also be checked regularly, your medications will be controlled and adjusted and necessary, and you may receive cardiac rehabilitation (exercise program).
There are several risk factors that can affect if you have a heart attack for the first time or more than one heart attack. Following these steps can help the prevention of a heart attack.
– Take aspirin daily to minimize blood clots. Talk to your doctor about this first.
– Quit smoking if you do. After three years of not smoking, the risk of heart disease drops to the same level as a nonsmoker. Even passive smoking such as cigar smoking and chewing should be avoided completely.
– Lower the level of bad cholesterol in your blood to keep plaque from building up in the coronary arteries. According to the National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines, your cholesterol level should be under 240. Your bad cholesterol level should be under 130. You may be able to control this by eating a careful diet, losing weight, and exercising more. If these factors don’t help alone, you may need to talk to your doctor about a medication to help control this.
– Eat a well balanced diet. Lower your intake of fat calories to under 30% of your total calories. Most diets in the US contain way too much fat. Limit the amount of cholesterol in your diet as well. Fat and cholesterol can progress the hardening of the coronary arteries and causes heart disease and heart attack. Be sure to get plenty of fiber by eating fruits and vegetables.
– Maintain an ideal body weight to help with prevention of heart attack. Being overweight increases the strain on the heart and the blood vessels.
– Control your blood pressure. High blood pressure is one of the most common causes of heart disease. This can be controlled through diet, exercise, medication, and other lifestyle factors.
– If you have diabetes, control this very carefully.
– Increase your physical activity. Talk with your health care provider about a program that is right for you. Try to get to the goal of at least 30 minutes of endurance exercise 3-5 times a week.
– Drink alcohol in moderation or else don’t drink it at all. Do not drink more than 1-2 drinks per day.
– Avoid taking diet pills, as many of them cause heart problems.