Matters of the Heart: These 9 Facts About Heart Disease Could Save Your Life

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in 2016 heart disease accounted for about 12 percent of all registered deaths in Australia. This makes heart diseases the leading cause of death in the country.

Although the percentage of deaths resulting from heart disease has been declining during the past few years, the numbers are still significant enough, let’s explore some facts about heart disease:

1. Cardiac arrests are different from heart attacks.
A cardiac arrest occurs when your heart stops pumping blood throughout your body, quickly depleting your brain of oxygen. When this happens, you soon fall unconscious and stop breathing.

During a heart attack, on the other hand, the heart muscle receives restricted oxygen flow due to blockages in the arteries. Both conditions can be deadly.

2. Cardiac arrest is quickly lethal.
Only 10 percent of the 20,000 Australians who have a cardiac arrest outside a hospital survive the ordeal. Once a cardiac arrest sets in, the brain is only protected for up to 3 minutes before it suffers damage from oxygen depletion, and most individuals pass away within 10 minutes.

Within this short timeframe, CPR and defibrillation can increase the individual’s survival rates by about 50-70 percent.

3. Salt intake Is a prime risk factor for heart disease.
Australian men need to watch out for high salt intake. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends daily salt intake of about 5 grams. Regardless, a study recently found that Australian men eat about 10 grams a day, while their female counterparts eat about 7 grams daily.

High salt intake can lead to high blood pressure, which is a main cause of heart attacks and heart failures.

4. Diabetes is a leading cause of death from heart disease.
If you have Type 2 Diabetes, you could be one out of three diabetic individuals who dies from heart diseases resulting from your condition. This link is genetically stronger in women than men, since females have no protection against heart diseases once they have Type 2 Diabetes.

5. Heart disease is deadlier than obesity.
A recent study published in BMC Public Health found that heart diseases and diabetes could be much deadlier than obesity, which is also a huge health issue all around the world. High blood pressure puts you at a mortality risk of 8.57 percent, while high blood sugar gives you 6.49 percent risk.

Obesity’s mortality risk, on the other hand, is about 1.04 percent, very little in comparison to the former conditions.

6. Women and men experience different symptoms.
Women have different symptoms of heart diseases as compared to men, with chest discomfort being the main symptom experienced. However, mental stress and depression can affect women’s hearts more, which could be a cause for heart attacks in women and not men.

7. Heart disease is a silent killer.
In Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital, the percentage of patients reporting heart attacks with no risk factors increased from 11 percent to 27 percent between 2006 and 2014.

These patients live a healthy lifestyle, and it is still unclear why they suffer a cardiac issue since they do not have any traditional or modifiable risk factors stereotypically linked to heart attacks.

8. Prevention is better than a cure.
SAHMRI Heart Health project manager Peta King recently proposed an initiative for women to have heart checks along with their health screenings to protect them from heart diseases.

This initiative aside, cardiologists have also warned individuals aged 40 and older to refrain from exercising more than 5 hours a week lest they increase their risk for heart attacks and cardiac arrests.

9. Omega-3’s lower your risk.
Omega-3 is a form of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which – despite its name being associated with fats – is essential for our bodies. A regular intake of this fatty acid can lower your risks of heart diseases by reducing the amount of fats in your blood and improving your blood vessels’ functions.