About a year ago we found out that my grandmother has a heart condition. Apparently this is something that has been with her for a very long time, but because she has had a stroke, we were only focusing on one part of her health. As it turned out, she has congestive heart failure. Even though this is not necessarily a fatal diagnosis, it will take years off of her life. There are many people like my grandmother walking around who have no idea that they may have heart problems.
Most of the time those with a heart condition do not know it until they have a heart attack. Though congestive heart failure is not that which you would consider a common heart condition, there are many people who have it who have no idea what is going on. There are many other people, like my grandfather, who have the more common type of heart condition. He was just in the hospital a few weeks ago because one of his arteries was blocked. As it turned out, he had three or four problem areas around his heart that had to be corrected.
As you move through life, one of the last things you want to do is think about aging and dying. However, it is important that you see your doctor and a regular basis to rule out many things. One of those things should be a heart condition. You may not want to think about it, or believe that can happen to you, but developing a heart condition can be a very serious threat to your life. It is far better that you know what is going on so that you can fix the problem. Don’t skip your doctor’s appointments just because you don’t want to know.
Having a heart condition is not the end of the world. There have been many advances in the medical field that allow a person with a heart condition to live a long and healthy life. The best defense against a heart attack is preventing it. If there have been people in your family who have had a heart condition, you have to suspect that this may become a problem for you as well. Make sure you talk to your doctor about all of the serious illnesses that have been in your family, and make sure you get the proper testing done when your doctor recommends it. You may say that you don’t care, but I can assure you that your family wants you around for as long as possible.
