Vim & Vigor - Winter 2012 - Gwinnett Medical Center - (Page 23)

Know how to recognize and respond when someone has a heart attack or a stroke BY TERESA CALDWELL BOARD When Aaron Daniels had been married for just a month, his wife gave him one more reason to love her: She saved his life. Training to climb Machu Picchu on a belated honeymoon, then-42-year-old Daniels and his wife were in a spinning class when he started to feel funny—nausea, fatigue and a cold sweat. Daniels went to lie down went they got home, telling his wife that his chest felt a little tight. “That was her ﬁrst red ﬂag,” he says. “She was very concerned.” After lying down, “within moments, I was in excruciating pain,” Daniels says. “My wife came upstairs, took one look at me and called 911 immediately.” FROM BYSTANDER TO LIFESAVER If you’re on the scene when a friend, a loved one or even a stranger has a heart attack or a stroke, you can go from bystander to lifesaver if you know what to look for. Heart attacks and most strokes are triggered when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the heart or brain. Fatty deposits called plaque build up over time on artery walls, making them thicker and harder. Like a boulder tumbling onto a highway, ruptured plaque creates a roadblock in the bloodstream when blood cells rush in to surround it, forming a blood clot. That internal event sets off a cascade of physical symptoms. Just as ﬂashing brake lights alert you to a trafﬁc jam ahead, heart attacks and strokes have telltale signs that mean it’s time to call 911 for emergency help. “Smart people do not drive themselves to the hospital,” says Janet Wright, M.D., executive director of Million Hearts, a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next ﬁve years. ERO Vim & Vigor · WI NTER 2012 PHOTOGRAPH OF WOMAN BY THINKSTOCK 23

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2012 - Gwinnett Medical Center

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2012 - Gwinnett Medical Center
Contents
Phil’s Feature
All in the Family
Good Sport
Because I Said So!
What’s Wrong with This Picture?
The Future Is Now
Everyday Hero
What Does 200 Calories Look Like?
JOHNNY BE GOOD
In the Driver’s Seat
We’ve Got Your Back
Bank on Your Health
Virtual Health
PrimeTime Health
Back on His Feet
Meet the Raineys
Out of the White
Transforming Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2012 - Gwinnett Medical Center