Heart smart

New book offers guidance on living with heart disease

Aman suddenly clutches his chest, feeling the weight of an elephant pressing on him, then keels over in pain. Doctors refer to this as a Hollywood heart attack.

But for many, the signs aren’t so dramatic. The symptoms may not even be sudden or severe. There may be chest discomfort that can feel like a squeezing or burning sensation. There may be pain radiating through the upper body, below the nose and above the navel. And there may be nausea, shortness of breath, a feeling light-headedness and a cold and clammy feeling.

Understanding how your ticker works — and what can go wrong with it — is essential knowledge for everyone, especially those who have heart disease or are at risk of developing it. The tricky thing about heart disease — a group of conditions that affect the heart’s structure and functions — is that people can find themselves in serious danger before noticing any symptoms.

Toronto cardiologist Dr. Beth Abramson routinely sees the look of dread and confusion on the faces of patients when they receive a diagnosis of heart disease. The most common condition is coronary artery disease, which occurs when blood vessels to the heart become blocked or narrow, restricting the flow of oxygen and blood.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in Canada, which is why, after more than 20 years as a physician and more than a decade as a volunteer spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Abramson sat down and wrote Heart Health for Canadians: The

Definitive Guide, in bookstores Jan. 22. It’s a crash course in heart disease, looking at reducing one’s risk of heart problems; navigating the health-care system, through the various diagnostic tests (such as electrocardiograms, stress tests and angiograms); and finding available treatments to manage the disease.

“We can’t change our genes, so we can’t change our family history. But knowing we’re at increased risk because of our family history we can change our luck by changing our lifestyle and our living.”

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