American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [319]
In the emergency room, the hospital workers tested my blood, and the test confirmed that I was having a heart attack. So the emergency room doctor gave me a drug that he said would dissolve the blood clot that was blocking one of my arteries. Then they transferred me to a hospital room.
I had to stay in the hospital for 4 days. While I was there, I received a number of different drugs—blood thinners, a blood pressure medication, and something to control the rhythm of my heart. I learned in the hospital that heart disease is the country’s No. 1 killer—not only of men but of women, too.
After I came home from the hospital, I started going to a cardiac rehab center near my home. The staff at the center taught me how I could change my lifestyle to prevent another heart attack. I started a regular walking program, which I still enjoy. A dietitian at the center gave me a sensible, low-fat eating plan that is easy to follow. (Now my husband follows it too.) And a very nice counselor at the center met with me several times to help me control the fear and anxiety I was feeling about having another heart attack.
Now I feel better than ever. I have lost 20 pounds and both my cholesterol level and blood pressure have gone down quite a bit. I was so lucky that I got medical help right away. I want every woman to know that heart attacks don’t happen just to men; they affect women too. If you think you might be having a heart attack, get help as soon as you can. Your chances of recovering completely will be so much better.
I learned in the hospital that heart disease is the country’s No. 1 killer—not only of men but of women, too.
Exercise stress test
Thallium exercise stress testing
Thallium exercise stress testing combines radionuclide scanning (see page 114) with exercise stress testing. While you walk or run on a treadmill or ride a stationary bicycle, the doctor injects a small amount of a radioactive substance called thallium into your bloodstream, which carries it to the coronary arteries and heart muscle. After exercising, you lie on an examining table and the doctor uses a scanner called a gamma camera to produce images of blood flow through the coronary arteries to the heart. The doctor performs a second scan a few hours later while you are resting. The test shows if blood flow through the coronary arteries is normal during both exercise and rest and if the arteries are narrowed or blocked. Absence of thallium in part of the heart muscle is a sign of damage (dead heart muscle tissue) from a previous heart attack.
Echocardiogram
An echocardiogram is a procedure in which images are obtained by bouncing ultrasound waves off the heart. In this test, the technician places a handheld ultrasound transducer (a device that transmits sound waves that are converted to images on a video monitor) on the left side of your chest, below the rib cage. The image on the monitor shows the size of your heart, movement of the heart muscle, blood flow through the heart valves, and valve function. If you have ischemia, the pumping motion of the wall of the left ventricle appears abnormal on the echocardiogram. An echocardiogram can be performed while you are at rest or while you walk or run on a treadmill or ride a stationary bicycle.
Coronary angiogram
A coronary angiogram (also called an arteriogram or cardiac catheterization) allows doctors to examine the coronary arteries on film. A catheter (a thin, flexible tube) is usually inserted into the femoral artery (a large blood vessel in the groin area) and moved up through the aorta (the main artery in the body) into the coronary arteries. A contrast medium (dye) is injected through the catheter into the artery under examination, and rapid-sequence X-rays (like a movie) are taken of the artery. Narrowing and blood flow inside