After suffering from a heart attack, many doctors will point out the health conditions that might occur due to the situation. However, while not only is the risk of another heart attack greater after the first one, there are other heart attack related diseases you must remain mindful of as well. With all of the great risk, it is vital for you to listen to all of your doctor's instructions for caring for yourself.
Whether this is adjusting your diet, exercising more or a combination of the two (along with other lifestyle changes), these alterations are not only going to help prevent a second heart attack, but also these other heart attack related diseases from taking place as well.
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is often a contributor to heart attacks and can continue after you have experienced one. High blood pressure can affect all sorts of issues in your general health and can lead to blockage in the arteries around your heart as well. This might not only bring about another heart attack, but you might eventually need valves replaced around your heart as well, due to blockages inside of the veins.
Fatigue
This is a rather common side effect to heart attack sufferers. After experiencing this sort of event, you often are going to feel tired and lethargic, no matter what time of the day it is. It can be the middle of the day, and suddenly you might feel like you need to take a nap. While you shouldn't push yourself right after you have a heart attack, it is still important for you to exercise on a daily basis, in some shape or form. Whether this is just walking a mile or two with your dog or lifting weights, all of these are going to help strengthen your heart back up. So while rest is important immediately after your heart attack, you still need to exercise opposed to sleeping all day.
Diabetes (Both Type 1 and 2)
After a heart attack, you are at greater risk of being diagnosed with diabetes. Whether it is Type 1 or Type 2, you are likely to have to check your insulin levels throughout the day, which requires pricking yourself and testing the blood. Type 1 is where your body is insulin dependent, whereas Type 2 is when your body is non-insulin dependent.
Regardless of thekind of diabetes though, you are far more susceptible to being diagnosed with this. Because of this, you need to make extra care to watch your diet. Follow the exact diet your doctor prescribes (you might even want to see a nutritionist) in order to create a specific diet for your needs. This is going to help you avoid developing one of the Diabetes forms.
Stroke
The high cholesterol you are likely to suffer after a heart attack can also lead to a stroke. A stroke is a serious health condition that occurs when your blood vessels are either blocked or simply burst. This is the fourth largest cause of death in the United States, but you can prevent it. You simply need to keep your blood pressure under control and you need to both exercise (in order to keep the blood flow in your veins strong) and follow a healthy diet. Many of these different health issues and diseases that spin off of a heart attack can be directly avoided and controlled by simplyexercising and eating right.
Peripheral Artery Disease
Also known as PAD, Peripheral Artery Disease can directly lead to a stroke. Over time, the inside of your veins is going to develop plaque. The plaque inside of your veins begins to block out the flow of your blood and make it difficult for the blood to flow to different areas of your body. Most often, PAD takes place in your arms or legs, but it can also happen in your torso as well.
There are different treatments to help with this condition though, ranging from medication to surgery. It is very important to talk to your doctor about the condition. If you develop this, certain medication might not be suitable for you after already experiencing a heart attack, so surgery might be your only option, or your doctor might just have you follow a strict diet and see if it is able to reduce the blockage (depending on how severe the blockage is when it is discovered).
There are many different health issues that can come up after a heart attack. This is why it is so important to listen to your medical professionals and follow their instructions.
