Treat Coronary Artery Disease With Heart Surgery
If you have hardened arteries, it is important to learn treat coronary artery disease with heart surgery. When you understand what is being prescribed for you, and why, you will have greater control over your care. Studies have shown that patients who take greater interest in their care do better in surgery and recover more quickly. Read on to learn treat coronary artery disease with heart surgery.
Instructions
Learn Which Type of Surgery You Will Be Receiving
1. Know that there are various types of heart surgery for different conditions.
2. Understand that under the general names of "bypass," "aortic" and "valve" surgery are a number of more specific cardiac surgeries, such as "mitral valve repair" under "valve surgery."
3. Ask your doctor which specific type of heart surgery is being recommended for you. This will make it easier to find the right information that affects your health and your recovery.
Understand Coronary Surgery
4. Know that coronary artery disease occurs when blood is trying to get through to the heart, but is restricted by narrowed and hardened arteries. If this is the case, the issue needs to be rectified fairly soon, as the body cannot continue to exist properly without a sufficient supply of oxygenated blood.
5. Know that, unless blood flow is increased back to appropriate levels, you could experience angina, a heart attack, heart failure or arrhythmias.
6. Coronary artery disease is also known by the name "atherosclerosis," and it is a result of plaque buildup on the artery walls. Two types of surgery are used to treat atherosclerosis: bypass surgery (taking a vein from elsewhere in the body and grafting it to the heart to allow for normalized blood flow) and angioplasty (opening the blocked vein, often by use of a prop called a stint).
Ask About Lifestyle Adjustments
7. Know that, in addition to or instead of heart surgery, medications and lifestyle changes may be recommended. Even if you are opposed to quitting smoking, eating better or engaging in exercise, it doesn't hurt to ask what the benefits might be.
8. Treat heart disease with a new attitude. It's a call to embrace a new, healthier lifestyle, not one bump in the road to be "fixed" and then forgotten.
9. Track the steps you take and monitor their results.
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