Home Care in Fair Oaks CA
Each year approximately 735,000 people throughout the United States suffer a heart attack. Just over 525,000 of these occur in people who have not had heart attacks before. As a family caregiver
it is important that you understand heart attacks and how they can impact your elderly loved one so that you can give them the care that they need to avoid a heart attack or to recover successfully after suffering one. The first step is understanding what a heart attack really is.
In order to understand heart attacks you must first understand that the heart is a muscle like the other muscles throughout the body. This means that is needs blood flow and the nutrients and oxygen that that blood brings in order to survive. This means that the heart is not just responsible for pumping blood to the other areas of the body, but also needs this blood as well. A heart attack occurs when this blood flow is severely diminished or has been completely cut off. This can happen for a wide variety of reasons and while some people will have warning prior to experiencing a heart attack, others might not realize that they are at risk until the heart attack occurs.
Generally a heart attack occurs because plaque, or a buildup made mostly of cholesterol and fat, builds up slowly in the coronary arteries, gradually causing them to become narrower and reduce blood flow. This plaque can then break apart, creating a blood clot around it and blocking the blood flow even further. Known as ischemia, this situation leads to the heart experiencing depletion of nutrients and oxygen, eventually causing damage to or even death of parts of the heart muscle. This is a heart attack.
Talk to your elderly loved one’s doctor about their particular risk for suffering a heart attack as well as what you can do to help reduce this risk and protect them from the possibility of such an event. Keep in mind that heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, so it is important to keep protecting your parent in mind regardless of whether you are caring for your mother or your father.
If your aging parent has recently suffered a heart attack or they have risk factors that put them at increased risk of suffering such an attack, now is the ideal time for you to consider starting home care for them. The highly personalized services of an in-home senior care services provider are designed to address your elderly loved one’s individual needs in a way that helps them stay healthy, safe, and comfortable, but that also respects their need for independence, autonomy, and fulfillment as they age in place. When it comes to helping them keep their heart healthier, this home care provider can encourage your aging loved one to eat a balanced diet, stay active, and manage their health conditions that can impact their heart health. Together with the support and care that you give them, these services enable your parent to live the lifestyle that they want while reducing their risk of heart attack.
If you or an aging loved one needs home care in Fair Oaks, CA, remember Senior Home Care Services. Call us at (916) 514-7006 for more information.
Sources:
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/Heart-Attack_UCM_001092_SubHomePage.jsp
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
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