You Gotta Have Heart !

OFF THE WIRE
YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART
By John Del Santo
 
“Oh No !  Elizabeth,  This is the BIG One” !  Most of us have heard about heart attacks, and some of us have experienced them or the results of them with family or friends.  How the situation ends up can often depend on what we know and how we use it.
 
If I started feeling like someone parked a motorcycle on my chest, it would make me feel a bit better knowing that someone I ride with, or live with, had taken a CPR class in the not-too-distant past.  There have been some changes in the method of administering CPR.  You could arrange a class within your group, or call a local hospital and ask if they know of a CPR class happening somewhere in town.  Doing a search on your computer will show you a whole list of local classes.  They usually only cost a couple of bucks, (less than a new piece of chrome) and having that kind of information, knowing that you have the ability to save the life of a family member or friend, can give you a good feeling.  You can carry a small bottle of children’s chewable aspirins on your bike or in your first aid kit…The word is that chewing  on three of these little babies could even stop a heart attack that’s already in motion.  This could give someone time to get to the hospital before it’s too late.  We can do preventative maintenance on ourselves by getting a check-up, and if our blood pressure is too high or cholesterol count is out of whack, we could get ourselves into better shape….climb some stairs, throw away some cigarettes.  Being in good shape is not a surefire guarantee though, because heart problems can happen to someone who looks like the least likely candidate.  Want some more info ?  Check out http://www.americanheart.org/.
 
The movie image of a heart attack is a middle-aged man clutching his chest and falling over onto the kitchen table…Heart attacks are not  just a “guy thing”, they are The Number One killer of women !  Recent research has shown that women can show completely different symptoms or warning signals, than the traditional signs that we expect to see in a heart attack victim.  Some of the signs that women will feel are sweating profusely; dizziness; vomiting and diarrhea; a bloating just below the sternum; or high gastric pain.  Some of the typical male warning signals include:  Pain in the left arm and chest;  a little ache that can radiate to the back and one or both arms; and aching in the jaw or neck, then squeezing , burning and crushing.  Not all signs occur with every heart attack, and most will start slowly.  Sometimes they go away and then return.  On the road we react quickly to brake lights coming on in front of us, and we try to react in the correct manner….We should do the same thing in the presence of cardiac warning signs…CALL 9-1-1 fast !  Many people experience the beginning signs of a heart attack, mistake the signs for food poisoning or indigestion and then the don’t follow up.  Toughing it out may be an admirable trait in most parts of our life…but we need to use common sense in matters of the heart, and don’t get carried away…(you know, by six of your best friends).  Knowledge is Power.  Ride Healthy, Ride Straight and Ride Safe.


John Del Santo
( 619 ) 223-0421