5 Important Heart Disease Facts and Myths

With the growing number of people falling prey to heart diseases and as the death toll increases every passing year, people are scrambling to find effective preventive and curative measures to counter what is known to be the fatal killer in the United States for decades. In view of all the hype, fuss and hubbub on this particular medical condition, misconceptions and myths tend to abound, stirring confusion and misinformation. So to dispel the common fallacy surrounding the issue, this article presents heart disease facts as a reference for ordinary people.

Myth 1 – Regular exercise is a guarantee to preventing heart diseases
While it is generally true that a healthy lifestyle, frequent physical exercise and proper diet present a normally great start, sadly, it is not an assurance of good health. Among the most important heart disease facts to keep in mind is that there are a number of contributing factors to acquiring and developing this particular health condition, which includes genetics, history of diabetes, and aging.

Myth 2 – Only old people need to worry about heart diseases
While older people, starting in the 40s are more prone to developing heart conditions, coronary artery problems can actually develop during the teenage years, and may persist as we grow older. Obese children are particularly at greater risks as well as those with family history of heart ailments.

Myth 3 – Blood pressure can never be too low.
We all know that blood pressure is one of the identified major risk factor in heart diseases; it is actually quite difficult to get normal levels every so often. However, the misconception that low blood pressure is a good thing is actually far from true. Consistently low blood pressure can lead to fainting, fatigue and kidney dysfunction.

Myth 4 – I am having a heart attack when my arm and chest hurts.
Among the most common symptoms of heart attacks include arm and chest plans, 25% of these actually don’t have any symptoms before its occurrence. The silent heart attacks are found to be most common among people with diabetes.

Myth 5 – Heart attacks are painful
Sure, we all have seen people suffer during heart attacks in movies. However, one of the heart disease facts is that there are some with no symptoms at all that would warn a person he/she is having an attack in progress but this does not mean no damage has been inflicted on the heart.