BLS, ACLS & PALS Classes | CPR Tampa in Palm Harbor

Cardiovascular disease increases the risk for life-threatening cardiac emergencies, such as a cardiac arrest, heart attack, etc. The major risk factors include high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Managing health behaviors and risk factors, such as diet quality, physical activity, smoking, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, total cholesterol or blood glucose is the key to lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, also called coronary artery disease (CAD). But you would most probably not know which risk factors you have. To know about your risk factors, you need to visit your healthcare provider who may conduct or request screening tests during regular visits. If you’ve been diagnosed with a cardiovascular condition such as heart failure or atrial fibrillation, or if you have a history of heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular events, you’ll probably require additional and more frequent testing. Your doctor may order more stringent screening even if you haven’t ...

In coronary or heart bypass surgery, the surgeon uses a blood vessel from the leg, arm or chest to bypass a narrowed section of a coronary artery. The surgery can relieve chest pain. A doctor suggests a bypass operation to individuals who’ve been diagnosed with coronary heart disease or angina- that helps improve the blood supply to your heart muscle which helps to relieve angina symptoms and improve the quality of life. Bypass Surgery: The main aim of coronary bypass surgery is to bypass or “get around” the narrowed sections of the coronary arteries that get narrowed when fatty deposits build up on their inner walls. The surgeon grafts a blood vessel between the aorta (the main blood vessel leaving the ticker) and a point along the coronary artery, past the area that’s narrowed. Mostly, at least one of the blood vessels used as a bypass graft is an artery from the chest, known as internal mammary artery. For other grafts, blood vessels like a vein from your legs and sometimes ...

Atrial flutter is a problem when the atria of the ticker beats rapidly and regularly due to an anomaly of the ticker’s electrical system that usually results in a tachycardia (an abnormally fast heart rate). An individual with the condition may get feelings like near-fainting, rapid heartbeats (palpitations), mild shortness of breath and fatigue. During atrial flutter, the ticker beats extra fast about 250-400 beats per minute. This type of arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) can be dangerous because complications can easily develop, and a normal heartbeat is 60-100 beats per minute. Atrial fibrillation is another arrhythmia that atrial flutter is closely related to. Atrial Flutter Types : 1.       Persistent atrial flutter which is more or less permanent. 2.       Paroxysmal atrial flutter which can come and go. An atrial flutter episode usually lasts hours or days. Risks: The main danger is that your ticker doesn’t p...

Atrial Fibrillation or A-fib is one of the most common problems with the heartbeat’s rate or rhythm with the basic cause being disorganized signals that make the ticker’s two upper chambers squeeze very fast and out of sync. The heart walls quiver or fibrillate because of their contraction. Any sort of damage to the ticker’s electrical system can lead to A-fib which often results from conditions that affect the ticker. Other things may be at play as well in at least one of every ten A-fib cases. It also happens sometimes that the healthcare provider can’t figure out what’s causing A-fib. Knowing the triggers can enable you to control your A-fib and avoid having an episode. Risk Factors that Lead to Atrial Fibrillation: Age- The odds go up with age, particularly after age 60 which can be attributed to the likelihood of getting heart disease and other conditions with age. Heart Disease - There are no two ways about other heart issues raising the chance of having Atrial Fi...

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a type of heart disease in which there is thickening of heart muscle in the ventricles without any obvious cause that prevents the ticker from pumping effectively, and it can cause sudden cardiac death if left untreated. The muscle cells can also become disorganized with thickening of the heart muscle, or myocardium which can complicate the delivery of electrical signals through the muscle. The disease occurs equally in men and women and can affect people of all ages, including infants. Although it’s usually inherited, but can develop over time due to aging or high blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association, the condition affects up to 500,000 people in the United States and fewer than 10 percent of these cases are among children under age 12 years. It tends to develop during childhood or young adulthood with younger people likely to be having a more severe form of the condition. Furthermore, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most com...

With age, a person’s heart generally slows and while resting. Consult with your doctor if you’re concerned about your heart rate to determine whether bradycardia suggests a problem. Heart rate changes with an individual’s activity level. The ticker has to pump faster and harder during intense physical exertion so the rate goes up. A slow heart rate is below 60 beats per minute (bpm) in most adults. Symptoms: A slow heart rate is the primary symptom of bradycardia. Some people have no other symptoms whereas other people do experience symptoms where a slow ticker rate is more likely to be due to a serious issue. Some of the common symptoms include feelings of exhaustion and weakness, confusion, fainting or dizziness, difficulty breathing when working out.  More severe symptoms may appear including cardiac arrest (the ticker stops), chest pain, low or high blood pressure, heart failure when a serious medical condition causes bradycardia and an individual does not seek treatmen...

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease in which the heart muscle (myocardium) becomes abnormally thick (hypertrophied) that can make it harder for the heart to pump blood. Many people with the disease have few (or there are hardly any) symptoms and can lead normal lives without any significant problems which is why HCM often goes undiagnosed. However, the thickened heart muscle can cause shortness of breath, chest pain or problems in the heart's electrical system, resulting in life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) in some people. A life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) by the name of Ventricular Fibrillation is a leading cause of cardiac arrests in people. A victim struck with a cardiac arrest would require immediate treatment for survival. Performing CPR without delay doubles or triples the chances of a cardiac arrest victim. Get CPR trained at an accredited training site, such as the AHA certified CPR Tampa in Palm Harbor and equip your...