Yes, amazing but true: aspirin has been proven in many studies to help prevent both heart attacks and strokes. Aspirin thins the blood a little in a way that decreases heart disease risk. Acetominophen and ibuprofen will not do the same thing. Aspirin should be a routine part of any effort to decrease the risk of developing heart disease, but talk with your doctor before starting it.

Aspirin is a blood thinner, which can help prevent a heart attack by ensuring the blood does not stick to and plug blood vessels in the heart. Where there are such risk factors as age, diabetes, obesity and a family history of heart disease, a simple low dose of Aspirin every day (80 mg or a quarter of a tablet) can reduce the chances of having a heart attack by as much as 50 per cent. Before you start taking Aspirin every day, discuss with your doctor.

Emergency medical personnel-also called EMS, for emergency medical services-bring medical care to you. For example, they bring oxygen and medications. And they can actually restart someone’s heart if it stops after they arrive. Your wife/husband/friend/coworker can’t do that, or help you at all if they are driving. In the ambulance, there are enough people to give you the help you need and get you to the hospital right away.

It now appears that not everybody responds equally to aspirin's anti-platelet effects. Some people require higher doses, some don't respond at all. Fortunately, we are now able to determine, with a simple in-office blood test, whether someone's aspirin therapy is effective. For further information about this new test, click here (you will need Adobe Acrobat to view the link). Maybe not.

Often, it is not easy to tell. But there are symptoms people may have.

episode of angina is NOT a heart attack. However, people with angina report having a hard time telling the difference between angina symptoms and heart attack symptoms. Angina is a recurring pain or discomfort in the chest that happens when some part of the heart does not receive enough blood temporarily. A person may notice it during exertion (such as in climbing stairs). It is usually relieved within a few minutes by resting or by taking prescribed angina medicine.

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A heart attack is an event that results in permanent heart damage or death. It is also known as a myocardial infarction, because part of the heart muscle (myocardium) may literally die (infarction). A heart attack occurs when one of the coronary arteries becomes severely or totally blocked, usually by a blood clot. When the heart muscle does not obtain the oxygen-rich blood that it needs, it will begin to die.

Yes, you can still have a heart attack. An ICD does not prevent a myocardial infarction, which is a blocked artery causing heart muscle tissue to die. Things like exercise, improved diet, reduced stress, and other lifestyle changes suggested in a cardiac rehab program will reduce chances for a heart attack. The ICD implant will save your life 99% of the time if you have a potentially lethal episode of arrhythmia. (According to current statistics.

I'm a 45-year-old woman and 30 lbs. overweight. If I were to make one change in my health behaviors, what do you suggest that I do or not do? I do not smoke. What is the relation of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) to Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)? The newspapers suggest that one is at higher risk of having a heart attack if one takes HRT.

The signs of a heart attack usually occur at the time of the event and usually involve chest pain (also squeezing, pressure, burning, or heaviness). There can also be radiation of the pain to the left arm, throat or jaw, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, nausea, and fainting. Unfortunately sudden death due to cardiac arrest can also be the first symptom. There are also "silent heart attacks" where there are no symptoms but the heart attack is discovered on a routine EKG.

Heart attacks are usually associated with chest pain that is in the center of the chest or just to the left of center. The pain is usually a dull, oppressive pain that may be conceived as a pressure or weight on the chest. Patients may have left arm pain, shoulder pain or jaw pain. Right arm pain has also been reported. Shortness of breath is associated with the pain and patients may have sweating and/or nausea and vomiting.