How to prevent Anxiety attacks and stress

As we all know, stress and anxiety attacks are a major contributor to heart ailments.  I would like to point out a few tips on how to not over exert yourself and give in to the stresses of daily living.

*Let go of what you cannot control -If something is outside of your reach then do not bother to alter your reality.  By worrying about an event which has passed etc. over which you have no control you only open yourself up to more emotional stress.

*Learn proper breathing techniques.  Breathing at a paced level certainly helps in calming the nervous system down, one should focus on inhaling through the nose intensely and exhaling through the mouth. It helps in calming you down and lowers your heart rate.

*Eat healthy foods.  Eating Junk food or "comfort" foods may help you feel better in the short term but they screw you up after a while.  All of the sugars your body is exposed to causes the body to "crash" and makes you feel weak and

Signs of heart disease

Before I had a heart transplant at age 10 I can recall of how confused and afraid I was.  Upon being conceived the doctors noticed I had an enlarged heart along with a miniscule hole (in laymens terms this means sufficient blood is not going through), this resulted in me growing up feeling very weak and fatigued.  Tell tale signs that you may have to consider checking against hear disease include but are not limited to:
Shortness of breath, constantly being tired, flushed skin, weak immune system, cold sweats.  These are just a few of the sympton

Excercise for a healthy heart!

To those of you who do not prioritise excercise and the importance of water in the diet -you need to take a deeper look of how these lifestyle adjustments can improve your quality of life. Cardiac disease is one of the biggest killers in the world today, causing more deaths than cancer each year. Simple adjustments like taking the stairs instead of the lift could end up saving your life. It is vital to get your cholesterol tested and with the amounts of clinics available there really is no excuse, unfortunately I have made the mistakes of drinking excessively and smoking the odd cigarette -two things which I do regret as it is detremental to the welfare of your heart. Let us go through something quickly:

The human heart's job is to pump nutrient-rich blood throughout your body. If you are a smoker or drink alcohol excessively, you are giving your heart extra work. How do you feel when you have too much work to do? Your heart cannot handle too much extra work over a long period of time. Over time, the health of your heart will take too much strain.

Studies have proven that smoking doubles your risk of having a heart attack and doubles, triples, or quadruples your risk of sudden cardiac death. Each year, over 300,000 South-Africans die of smoking-related heart disease. So, don't smoke. If you do, quit. The sooner you quit, the sooner your risk will start to decline. There is hope. Former smokers can completely lower their risk of sudden cardiac death within ten years of quitting.

Because they are foreign substances, any drug can effect your heart. Even prescribed medications can. However, since prescribed medications are legal, doctors are able to control the effect a drug will have on your heart by controlling the dosage. With illegal drugs (cocaine, heroin, marijuana, amphetamines, etc.), only you have to control the effect on your heart.Only if you don't take any can you truly be safe. Even a small amount of a drug can be potentially fatal. So, don't use illegal drugs. If you do, quit.

While drinking alcohol in moderation may not pose a risk, drinking excessively does pose a serious hazard to your heart. While alcohol flows in your blood stream, the nutrient-rich blood is less able to nourish the heart. If the alcohol content is excessive, your heart will be in danger. So, don't drink alcohol excessively. If you do, quit.

It may be wise to read up in depth articles on the health of your heart at http://www.heartfoundation.co.za/

Heart transplant success story

Hi There friends, I have decided to write this blog in the hopes of inspiring some people out there who has been affected by heart transplantation, had one themselves maybe or just knows how difficult the whole medical process is for both themselves and family.  I had a heart transplant at age 10 in Cape-Town, I am a healthy 26 year old which makes me the longest living surivor of the trials taking place during 1996. Some people take life for granted and do not value what they have, I would just like to tell everyone out there that living is not a sentence, it is a precious gift which should be used to enrich the lives of others.

A Little more about a heart transplant:

December 3, 1967

South African surgeon Dr. Christian Barnard made medical history at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town on December 3, 1967 by completing the first successful heart transplant. The patient – 59-year-old Louis Washkansky – received his new heart from a 25-year-old woman who died after being hit by a car. Unfortunately, Washkansky's immune system was weakened by the anti-rejection medication. He contracted pneumonia and died 18 days later

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01885/history%20of%20transplants.htm

There is the source above should you want to read up on it.  The last bit is quite scary, to think that after such an amazing operation and strenious procedure, your body rejects it and your immune system fails.  There has been numerous breakthroughs since then and I am also using anti supressing drugs.  I have to use Tacrolimus twice a day for the rest of my life.  It is compulsory to have a check up once every 6 months to make sure all the organs are functioning at optimal levels! Other than these technicalities I live a full and enjoyable lifestyle!