The number one cause of death in both men and women is cardiovascular disease or heart disease. According to the Heart Foundation, about one million people die each year from heart disease. There are different types of heart disease, such as coronary artery disease (which is the most common), arrhythmias (heart rhythm disorders), and congenital heart defects.
My dad, Addam Scott, was born with a congenital heart defect. Where the valves are supposed to pump in one direction, my dad's valves pumped in the opposite direction. This led to the deterioration of some of his valves. When I was about nine or ten, my dad had to have open heart surgery in order to replace one of his bad valves with a plastic one. Normally surgeons would implant a pig valve, since pigs' hearts are very similar to human hearts. Unfortunately my dad's heart was in such bad condition that his doctor decided on the new plastic valve. The doctors warned the surgeon not to try to fix the bad valve, because it was unfixable. All he had to do was hurry and insert the plastic one. However, the surgeon was cocky and didn't listen to the doctors. He was convinced he could fix my dad's valve. After nine hours of fooling around in my dad's heart, the surgeon panicked and hastily, and poorly, inserted a pig valve. The doctors were furious. The hospital was furious. Gran, my dad's mother, was blood-thirsty. My family was in uproar. A lawsuit was threatening the surface. But my dad intervened. Tulane Hospital is one of the best hospitals in Louisiana, and he didn't want to see such a great hospital suffer because of one egotistical idiot surgeon. So instead they kept it hush, hush, and the surgeon was banned from operating in the whole state of Louisiana.
My dad died about four years later. The crappily installed pig valve failed right before he was scheduled to have another open heart surgery. When my dad was young, he was told that he wouldn't make it to eighteen. He made it to thirty-nine and had two children, my brother and me.
(My drawing of the bear my dad was given. He was told to squeeze it whenever he was in pain)
Because of the advancement of technology and medicine, many people with congenital heart defects and other heart diseases now live longer! Doctors make sure to identify the problem early on, using heart catheterization and other methods, and treat it immediately. Surgical approaches have improved as well. Since heart disease is on the rise, it's more important than ever to start taking care of your heart now! Just because you weren't born with a heart defect, doesn't mean you're immune to heart disease. Your heart is one of the most, if not THE most, important organs in your body! If you log onto the American Heart Association website, you'll find a list of ways to prevent heart disease. Here are some of them:
1. EAT HEALTHY! That's obvious. Take it easy on the saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium, and added sugars and sweeteners.
2. EXERCISE! Another obvious solution. Keep your heart active!
3. GO TO THE DOCTOR! Get examinated to make sure you're healthy. Doctors are supposed to help you, so don't be afraid of them, but don't be afraid to interrogate them as well. You and your doctor should be 100% open with each other.
4. NO CIGARETTES! Cigarettes are never good for you. Never!
(This commercial is horrible, but it's effective)
5. MANAGE YOUR STRESS! This is a hard one, because stress is inevitable. Find a stress management technique that works for you. A few techniques that work for me are breathing exercises (breathe in slowly through your nose, hold for a few seconds, and exhale slowly through your mouth), tensing and relaxing muscles (Start with your feet and tense your muscles for ten seconds. Then release. Work your way up your body until you feel like you've relaxed all your muscles), repeating a positive mantra (try my mantra, "I am smart, I am strong, I am brave, I am beautiful, I can do anything." You can change it to better suit you), and thinking of something happy (my thoughts usually involve kittens).
Heart disease kills more people than AIDS and cancer. So please, try to take care of yourself. If not for yourself, then do it for the ones you love. Your life is important to them. Trust me.
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/congenital-heart-defects-treatment-overview
http://www.theheartfoundation.org/heart-disease-facts/about-heart-disease/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/congenitalheartdefects.html
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/MyHeartandStrokeNews/Preventing-Heart-Disease---At-Any-Age_UCM_442925_Article.jsp
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