Heart Diseases & Condition-HEARTBURN

Heartburn

 

Heartburn is a burning pain in your chest, just behind your breastbone. The pain is often worse when lying down or bending over.
Occasional heartburn is common and no cause for alarm. Most people can manage the discomfort of heartburn on their own with lifestyle changes and over-the-counter medications.
Heartburn that is more frequent or interferes with your daily routine may be a symptom of a more serious condition that requires medical care.

Symptoms---->

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What Happens During Heart Attack

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Heart Diseases & Condition-Heart Valve Disease

Your heart has four valves that keep blood flowing in the correct direction. The valves open and close once during each heartbeat. Sometimes, the valves don't open or close properly, disrupting the blood flow through your heart to your body. In a condition called stenosis, a valve isn't able to open properly. In a condition called regurgitation, a valve doesn't close properly and can leak.

Heart valve disease includes:

Aortic valve disease

Mitral valve disease

Pulmonary valve disease

Tricuspid valve disease

Your heart valve disease treatment depends on the valve affected and the type and severity of the valve disease. Sometimes heart valve disease requires heart valve surgery.

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Heart Diseases & Condition-Heart Palpitations

Heart Palpitations

Heart palpitations (pal-pih-TAY-shuns) are the feelings of having rapid, fluttering or pounding heart. Heart palpitations can be triggered by stress, exercise, medication or, rarely, a medical condition.

Although heart palpitations can be worrisome, they're usually harmless. In rare cases, heart palpitations can be a symptom of a more serious heart condition, such as an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), that may require treatment.

Symptoms (Heart Palpitations)

Heart palpitations can feel like your heart is:

• Skipping beats
• Fluttering
• Beating too fast
• Pumping harder than usual

You may feel heart palpitations in your throat or neck, as well as your chest. Heart palpitations can occur whether you're active or at rest, and whether you're standing, seated or lying down.

Causes (Heart Palpitations)

Often the cause of your heart palpitations can't be found. Common causes of heart palpitations include:

• Strong emotional responses, such as stress or anxiety
• Strenuous exercise
• Caffeine
• Nicotine
• Fever
• Hormone changes associated with menstruation, pregnancy or menopause
• Taking cold and cough medications that contain pseudoephedrine, a stimulant
• Taking some asthma inhaler medications that contain stimulants

Occasionally heart palpitations can be a sign of a serious problem, such as an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) or an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia). Arrhythmias may include very fast heart rates (tachycardia), unusually slow heart rates (bradycardia) or an irregular heart rhythm.

Tests and diagnosis (Heart Palpitations)

If your doctor thinks you have heart palpitations, he or she will listen to your heart using a stethoscope. Your doctor may also look for signs of medical conditions that can cause heart palpitations, such as a swollen thyroid gland.

Other tests your doctor may perform include:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG). In this noninvasive test, a technician will place probes on your chest that record the electrical impulses that make your heart beat.
An ECG can help your doctor detect irregularities in your heart's rhythm and structure that could cause palpitations. The test may be performed while you rest or exercise (stress electrocardiogram).
• Holter monitoring. A Holter monitor is a portable device that you wear to record a continuous ECG, usually for 24 to 72 hours. Holter monitoring is used to detect heart palpitations that aren't found during a regular ECG exam.
• Event recording. If you don't have irregular heart rhythms while you wear a Holter monitor, your doctor may recommend an event recorder.
  You wear an event recorder as much as possible throughout the day, and push a button on a recording device you wear on your belt to record your heartbeat when you have symptoms. You may need to wear an event monitor for several weeks.
• Echocardiogram. This noninvasive exam, which includes an ultrasound of your chest, shows detailed images of your heart's structure and function.
  Ultrasound waves are transmitted, and their echoes are recorded with a device called a transducer that's held outside your body. A computer uses the information from the transducer to create moving images on a video monitor.

Treatments and drugs (Heart Palpitations)

Unless your doctor finds that you have a heart condition, heart palpitations seldom require treatment. Instead, your doctor may recommend ways for you to avoid the triggers that cause your palpitations.

If your palpitations are caused by a condition, such as an arrhythmia, your treatment will focus on correcting the condition.

Lifestyle and home remedies (Heart Palpitations)

The most appropriate way to treat palpitations at home is to avoid the triggers that may cause your symptoms. Some ways to avoid triggers include:

• Reduce stress or anxiety. Try relaxation techniques, such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing or aromatherapy.
• Avoid stimulants. Stimulants, including caffeine, nicotine, some cold medicines and energy drinks, can make your heart beat quickly or irregularly.
• Avoid illegal drugs. Certain drugs, such as cocaine and amphetamines, can bring on heart palpitations.

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Heart Diseases & Conditions-Heart Murmurs

Heart murmurs are sounds during your heartbeat cycle — such as whooshing or swishing — made by turbulent blood in or near your heart. These sounds can be heard with a stethoscope. A normal heartbeat makes two sounds like "lubb-dupp" (sometimes described as "lub-DUP"), which are the sounds of your heart valves closing.

Heart murmurs can be present at birth (congenital) or develop later in life. A heart murmur isn't a disease — but murmurs may indicate an underlying heart problem.

Often, heart murmurs are harmless (innocent) and don't need treatment. Some heart murmurs may require follow-up tests to be sure the murmur isn't caused by a serious underlying heart condition. Treatment, if needed, is directed at the cause of your heart murmur.

Symptoms (Heart Murmurs)

If you have a harmless heart murmur, more commonly known as an innocent heart murmur, you likely won't have any other signs or symptoms.

An abnormal heart murmur may cause no obvious other signs or symptoms, aside from the unusual sound your doctor hears when listening to your heart with a stethoscope. But if you have these signs or symptoms, they may indicate a heart problem:

• Skin that appears blue, especially on your fingertips and lips
• Swelling or sudden weight gain
• Shortness of breath
• Chronic cough
• Enlarged liver
• Enlarged neck veins
• Poor appetite and failure to grow normally (in infants)
• Heavy sweating with minimal or no exertion
• Chest pain
• Dizziness
• Fainting

Causes (Heart Murmurs)

There are two types of heart murmurs: innocent murmurs and abnormal murmurs. A person with an innocent murmur has a normal heart. This type of heart murmur is common in newborns and children.

An abnormal heart murmur is more serious. In children, abnormal murmurs are usually caused by congenital heart disease. In adults, abnormal murmurs are most often due to acquired heart valve problems.

Innocent heart murmurs

An innocent murmur can occur when blood flows more rapidly than normal through the heart. Conditions that may cause rapid blood flow through your heart, resulting in an innocent heart murmur, include:

• Physical activity or exercise
• Pregnancy
• Fever
• Not having enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body tissues (anemia)
• An excessive amount of thyroid hormone in your body (hyperthyroidism)
• Phases of rapid growth, such as adolescence

Innocent heart murmurs may disappear over time, or they may last your entire life without ever causing further health problems.

Abnormal heart murmurs

The most common cause of abnormal murmurs in children is when babies are born with structural problems of the heart (congenital heart defects).

Common congenital defects that cause heart murmurs include:

• Holes in the heart or cardiac shunts. Known as septal defects, holes in the heart may or may not be serious, depending on the size of the hole and its location.
  Cardiac shunts occur when there's an abnormal blood flow between the heart chambers or blood vessels, which may lead to a heart murmur.
• Heart valve abnormalities. Congenital heart valve abnormalities are present at birth, but sometimes aren't discovered until much later in life. Examples include valves that don't allow enough blood through them (stenosis) or those that don't close properly and leak (regurgitation), such as mitral valve prolapse.

Other causes of abnormal heart murmurs include infections and conditions that damage the structures of the heart and are more common in older children or adults. For example:

• Valve calcification. This hardening or thickening of valves, as in mitral stenosis or aortic valve stenosis, can occur as you age. Valves may become narrowed (stenotic), making it harder for blood to flow through your heart, resulting in murmurs.
• Endocarditis. This infection of the inner lining of your heart and valves typically occurs when bacteria or other germs from another part of your body, such as your mouth, spread through your bloodstream and lodge in your heart.
  Left untreated, endocarditis can damage or destroy your heart valves. This condition usually occurs in people who already have heart valve abnormalities.
• Rheumatic fever. Although now rare in the United States, rheumatic fever is a serious condition that can occur when you don't receive prompt or complete treatment for a strep throat infection. It can permanently affect the heart valves and interfere with normal blood flow through your heart.

Treatments and drugs (Heart Murmurs)

An innocent heart murmur generally doesn't require treatment because the heart is normal. If innocent murmurs are the result of an illness, such as fever or hyperthyroidism, the murmurs will go away once that condition is treated.

If you or your child has an abnormal heart murmur, treatment may not be necessary. Your doctor may want to monitor the condition over time. If treatment is necessary, it depends on what heart problem is causing the murmur and may include medications or surgery.

Medications

The medication your doctor prescribes depends on the specific heart problem you have. Some medications your doctor might give you include:

• Medications that prevent blood clots (anticoagulants).Your doctor may prescribe anticoagulants, such as aspirin, warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven) or clopidogrel (Plavix). An anticoagulant prevents blood clots from forming in your heart and causing a heart attack or stroke.
• Water pills (diuretics). Diuretics remove excess fluid from your body, which can help treat other conditions that might worsen a heart murmur, such as high blood pressure.
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. ACE inhibitors lower your blood pressure. High blood pressure can worsen underlying conditions that cause heart murmurs.
• Statins. Statins help lower your cholesterol. Having high cholesterol seems to worsen some heart valve problems, including some heart murmurs.
• Beta blockers. These drugs lower your heart rate and blood pressure. They're used for some types of heart valve problems.

Surgery

Many valve conditions can't be treated with medications alone. Depending on your heart condition, your doctor may recommend one of these options to treat a damaged or leaky valve:

Valve repair

To repair a valve, your doctor may recommend one of the following procedures:

• Balloon valvuloplasty. This procedure is performed to relieve a narrowed valve. During a balloon valvuloplasty, a small catheter containing an expandable balloon is threaded into your heart, placed into the valve and then expanded to help widen the narrowed valve.
• Annuloplasty. In this procedure, your surgeon tightens the tissue around the valve by implanting an artificial ring. This allows the leaflets to come together and close the abnormal opening through the valve.
• Repair of structural support. In this procedure, your surgeon replaces or shortens the cords that support the valves (chordae tendineae and papillary muscles) to repair the structural support. When the cords and muscles are the right length, the valve leaflet edges meet and eliminate the leak.
• Valve leaflet repair. In valve leaflet repair, your surgeon surgically separates, cuts or pleats a valve flap (leaflet).

Valve replacement

In many cases, the valve has to be replaced. Options include:

• Open-heart surgery. This is the primary surgical treatment for severe valve stenosis. Your surgeon removes the narrowed valve and replaces it with a mechanical valve or a tissue valve.
  Mechanical valves, made from metal, are durable, but carry the risk of blood clots forming. If you receive a mechanical valve, you'll need to take an anticoagulant medication, such as warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven), for life to prevent blood clots.
  Tissue valves — which may come from a pig, cow or human deceased donor — often eventually need replacement. Another type of tissue valve replacement that uses your own pulmonary valve (autograft) is sometimes possible.
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). A less invasive approach, TAVR involves replacing the aortic valve with a prosthetic valve via an artery in your leg or in a small incision in your chest.
  In some cases, a valve can be inserted via a catheter into a tissue replacement valve that needs to be replaced (valve-in-valve procedure).
  TAVR is usually reserved for individuals with severe aortic valve stenosis who are at increased risk of complications from aortic valve surgery.

Doctors used to recommend that most people with abnormal heart murmurs take antibiotics before visiting the dentist or having surgery due to possible complications from a bacterial infection that affects the lining of your heart (infective endocarditis).

Doctors no longer recommend antibiotics before procedures, except for people at highest risk of complications of infective endocarditis, such as those who have an artificial heart valve or people with certain congenital heart defects.

Prevention (Heart Murmurs)

While there's not much you can do to prevent a heart murmur, it is reassuring to know that heart murmurs are not a disease and are often harmless. For children, many murmurs go away on their own as children grow. For adults, murmurs may disappear as the underlying condition causing them improves.

                                                                                                         

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Heart Diseases & Condition-Heart Failure Prevention

Heart Failure Prevention

The key to preventing heart failure is to reduce your risk factors. You can control or eliminate many of the risk factors for heart disease — high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, for example — by making lifestyle changes along with the help of any needed medications.

Lifestyle changes you can make to help prevent heart failure include:

• Not smoking
• Controlling certain conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes
• Staying physically active
• Eating healthy foods
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Reducing and managing stress

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Heart Diseases & Condition-Congenital Heart Diseases in Adults

Congenital Heart Diseases in Adults

Congenital heart disease (congenital heart defect) is an abnormality in your heart's structure that you're born with. Although congenital heart disease is often considered a childhood condition, advances in surgical treatment mean most babies who once died of congenital heart disease survive well into adulthood.

While medical advances have improved, many adults with congenital heart disease may not be getting proper follow-up care. If you had a congenital heart defect repaired as an infant, you likely still need care as an adult.

Find out if and when you should check with your doctor, if you're likely to have complications, or if you're at greater risk of other heart problems as an adult.

Symptoms

Symptoms or signs of congenital heart disease may not show up until later in life. They may recur years after you've had treatment for a heart defect. Some common congenital heart disease symptoms you may have as an adult include:

• Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
• A bluish tint to the skin (cyanosis)
• Shortness of breath
• Tiring quickly upon exertion
• Dizziness or fainting
• Swelling of body tissue or organs (edema)

Causes

How the heart works

The heart is divided into four hollow chambers, two on the right and two on the left. In performing its basic job — pumping blood throughout the body — the heart uses its left and right sides for different tasks.

The right side of the heart moves blood to the lungs through vessels called pulmonary arteries. In the lungs, blood picks up oxygen and then returns to the heart's left side through the pulmonary veins. The left side of the heart then pumps the blood through the aorta and out to the rest of the body.

How heart defects develop

Most heart defects develop when a baby is still in the womb. During the first month of gestation, the fetal heart begins beating. At this point, the heart is just a vaguely heart-shaped tube. Soon the structures that will form into the heart's two sides and the large blood vessels that carry blood in and out of them develop.

It's usually at this point in a baby's development that heart defects may begin to develop. Researchers aren't sure exactly what causes defects to begin, but they think some medical conditions, medications and genetics may play a role.

Why congenital heart disease resurfaces in adulthood

Some adults may find that problems with their heart defects arise later in life, even if their defects were treated in childhood. This is because heart defects are seldom cured — they are often repaired, so your heart function is improved, but it's often not completely normal.

There are many reasons why heart defects re-emerge in adults. In some cases, the treatment you received in childhood may have been successful then, but the problem worsens later in life. It's also possible that problems in your heart, which weren't serious enough to repair when you were a child, have worsened and now require treatment.

There are other complications of childhood surgeries to correct congenital heart disease that can occur later in life. Many treatments to repair heart defects may leave scar tissue behind in your heart that causes an increased chance of abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia).

Congenital heart disease and pregnancy

Women with congenital heart disease who wish to become pregnant should talk with their doctors before becoming pregnant. They should discuss possible risks, as well as any special care they might need during pregnancy.

A successful pregnancy is possible if you had a congenital heart disease, especially if your defect was mild. However, some women with complex congenital heart defects may be advised against pregnancy.

It's important for both men and women to know that if they have congenital heart disease, there may be an increased risk of passing on some form of congenital heart disease to their children. Your doctor may suggest genetic counseling to help you predict the risk of passing on inherited forms of congenital heart disease.

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Heart Diseases & Conditions-Heart Arrhythmia

Heart Arrhythmia-Conditions & Symptoms

Heart rhythm problems (heart arrhythmias) occur when the electrical impulses that coordinate your heartbeats don't work properly, causing your heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly.

Heart arrhythmias (uh-RITH-me-uhs) may feel like a fluttering or racing heart and may be harmless. However, some heart arrhythmias may cause bothersome — sometimes even life-threatening — signs and symptoms.

Heart arrhythmia treatment can often control or eliminate fast or irregular heartbeats. In addition, because troublesome heart arrhythmias are often made worse — or are even caused — by a weak or damaged heart, you may be able to reduce your arrhythmia risk by adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Symptoms

Arrhythmias may not cause any signs or symptoms. In fact, your doctor might find you have an arrhythmia before you do, during a routine examination. Noticeable signs and symptoms don't necessarily mean you have a serious problem, however.

Noticeable arrhythmia symptoms may include:

• A fluttering in your chest
• A racing heartbeat (tachycardia)
• A slow heartbeat (bradycardia)
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Lightheadedness
• Dizziness
• Fainting (syncope) or near fainting

Causes

Many things can lead to, or cause, an arrhythmia, including:

• A heart attack that's occurring right now
• Scarring of heart tissue from a prior heart attack
• Changes to your heart's structure, such as from cardiomyopathy
• Blocked arteries in your heart (coronary artery disease)
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism)
• Underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism)
• Smoking
• Drinking too much alcohol or caffeine
• Drug abuse
• Stress
• Certain prescription medications
• Certain dietary supplements and herbal treatments
• Electrical shock
• Air pollution

What's a normal heartbeat?

Your heart is made up of four chambers — two upper chambers (atria) and two lower chambers (ventricles). The rhythm of your heart is normally controlled by a natural pacemaker (the sinus node) located in the right atrium. The sinus node produces electrical impulses that normally start each heartbeat.

From the sinus node, electrical impulses travel across the atria, causing the atria muscles to contract and pump blood into the ventricles.

The electrical impulses then arrive at a cluster of cells called the atrioventricular node (AV node) — usually the only pathway for signals to travel from the atria to the ventricles.

The AV node slows down the electrical signal before sending it to the ventricles. This slight delay allows the ventricles to fill with blood. When electrical impulses reach the muscles of the ventricles, they contract, causing them to pump blood either to the lungs or to the rest of the body.

In a healthy heart, this process usually goes smoothly, resulting in a normal resting heart rate of 60 to 100 beats a minute. Conditioned athletes at rest commonly have a heart rate less than 60 beats a minute because their hearts are so efficient.

Types of arrhythmias

Doctors classify arrhythmias not only by where they originate (atria or ventricles) but also by the speed of heart rate they cause:

• Tachycardia (tak-ih-KAHR-dee-uh). This refers to a fast heartbeat — a resting heart rate greater than 100 beats a minute.
• Bradycardia (brad-e-KAHR-dee-uh). This refers to a slow heartbeat — a resting heart rate less than 60 beats a minute.

Not all tachycardias or bradycardias mean you have heart disease. For example, during exercise it's normal to develop a fast heartbeat as the heart speeds up to provide your tissues with more oxygen-rich blood. During sleep or times of deep relaxation, it's not unusual for the heart beat to be slower.

Tachycardias in the atria

Tachycardias originating in the atria include:

• Atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a rapid heart rate caused by chaotic electrical impulses in the atria. These signals result in rapid, uncoordinated, weak contractions of the atria.
  The chaotic electrical signals bombard the AV node, usually resulting in an irregular, rapid rhythm of the ventricles. Atrial fibrillation may be temporary, but some episodes won't end unless treated.
  Atrial fibrillation may lead to serious complications such as stroke.
• Atrial flutter. Atrial flutter is similar to atrial fibrillation. The heartbeats in atrial flutter are more-organized and more-rhythmic electrical impulses than in atrial fibrillation. Atrial flutter may also lead to serious complications such as stroke.
• Supraventricular tachycardia. Supraventricular tachycardia is a broad term that includes many forms of arrhythmia originating above the ventricles (supraventricular) in the atria or AV node.
• Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a type of supraventricular tachycardia, there is an extra electrical pathway between the atria and the ventricles, which is present at birth. However, you may not experience symptoms until you're an adult. This pathway may allow electrical signals to pass between the atria and the ventricles without passing through the AV node, leading to short circuits and rapid heartbeats.

Tachycardias in the ventricles

Tachycardias occurring in the ventricles include:

• Ventricular tachycardia. Ventricular tachycardia is a rapid, regular heart rate that originates with abnormal electrical signals in the ventricles. The rapid heart rate doesn't allow the ventricles to fill and contract efficiently to pump enough blood to the body. Ventricular tachycardia can often be a medical emergency. Without prompt medical treatment, ventricular tachycardia may worsen into ventricular fibrillation.
• Ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation occurs when rapid, chaotic electrical impulses cause the ventricles to quiver ineffectively instead of pumping necessary blood to the body. This serious problem is fatal if the heart isn't restored to a normal rhythm within minutes.
  Most people who experience ventricular fibrillation have an underlying heart disease or have experienced serious trauma, such as being struck by lightning.
• Long QT syndrome. Long QT syndrome is a heart disorder that carries an increased risk of fast, chaotic heartbeats. The rapid heartbeats, caused by changes in the electrical system of your heart, may lead to fainting, and can be life-threatening. In some cases, your heart's rhythm may be so erratic that it can cause sudden death.
  You can be born with a genetic mutation that puts you at risk of long QT syndrome. In addition, several medications may cause long QT syndrome. Some medical conditions, such as congenital heart defects, may also cause long QT syndrome.

Bradycardia — a slow heartbeat

Although a heart rate below 60 beats a minute while at rest is considered bradycardia, a low resting heart rate doesn't always signal a problem. If you're physically fit, you may have an efficient heart capable of pumping an adequate supply of blood with fewer than 60 beats a minute at rest. In addition, certain medications used to treat other conditions, such as high blood pressure, may lower your heart rate. However, if you have a slow heart rate and your heart isn't pumping enough blood, you may have one of several bradycardias, including:

• Sick sinus syndrome. If your sinus node, which is responsible for setting the pace of your heart, isn't sending impulses properly, your heart rate may be too slow (bradycardia), or it may speed up (tachycardia) and slow down intermittently. Sick sinus syndrome can also be caused by scarring near the sinus node that's slowing, disrupting or blocking the travel of impulses.
• Conduction block. A block of your heart's electrical pathways can occur in or near the AV node, which lies on the pathway between your atria and your ventricles. A block can also occur along other pathways to each ventricle.
  Depending on the location and type of block, the impulses between the upper and lower halves of your heart may be slowed or blocked. If the signal is completely blocked, certain cells in the AV node or ventricles can make a steady, although usually slower, heartbeat. Some blocks may cause no signs or symptoms, and others may cause skipped beats or bradycardia. Slower heart rates or a conduction block may cause symptoms of fatigue, dizziness or fainting.

Premature heartbeats

Although it often feels like a skipped heartbeat, a premature heartbeat is actually an extra beat. Even though you may feel an occasional premature beat, it seldom means you have a more serious problem. Still, a premature beat can trigger a longer lasting arrhythmia — especially in people with heart disease.

Premature heartbeats are commonly caused by stimulants, such as caffeine from coffee, tea and soft drinks; over-the-counter cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine; and some asthma medications.

Complications

Certain arrhythmias may increase your risk of developing conditions such as:

• Stroke. When your heart quivers, it's unable to pump blood effectively, which can cause blood to pool. This can cause blood clots to form. If a clot breaks loose, it can travel from your heart to your brain. There it might block blood flow, causing a stroke.
  Certain medications, such as blood thinners, can greatly lower your risk of stroke or damage to other organs caused by blood clots. Your doctor will determine if a blood-thinning medication is appropriate for you, depending on your type of arrhythmia and your risk of blood clots.
• Heart failure. Heart failure can result if your heart is pumping ineffectively for a prolonged period due to a bradycardia or tachycardia, such as atrial fibrillation. Sometimes controlling the rate of an arrhythmia that's causing heart failure can improve your heart's function.

Lifestyle and home remedies (Heart Arrhythmia)

• Eat heart-healthy foods. Eat a healthy diet that's low in salt and solid fats and rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Exercise regularly. Exercise daily and increase your physical activity.
• Quit smoking. If you smoke and can't quit on your own, talk to your doctor about strategies or programs to help you break a smoking habit.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight increases your risk of developing heart disease.
• Keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control.Make lifestyle changes and take medications as prescribed to correct high blood pressure (hypertension) or high cholesterol.
• Drink alcohol in moderation. For healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women of all ages and men older than age 65, and up to two drinks a day for men age 65 and younger.
• Maintain follow-up care. Take your medications as prescribed and have regular follow-up appointments with your doctor. Tell your doctor if your symptoms worsen.

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