This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org. One person dies every 34 seconds in the U.S. from cardiovascular disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and this means each of us has to be mindful of our heart health so that we are not one of them.
I firmly believe we all need to be mindful of our overall health because being overweight, having out-of-control diabetes and other medical issues can lead to heart attacks, strokes and other maladies. Shortly after Thanksgiving of 2021, a few months before my 63rd birthday, I was waiting at a red light in suburban Philadelphia when I felt a tingling sensation up and down my left arm. It was so startling that I called a close friend and asked him, “Isn’t this a heart attack symptom?” We talked about it for a few minutes, but quickly my attention was diverted back to my errands. A few weeks later, shortly before the December holidays, I was having lunch with my sister and I had bad heartburn. Around the same time, I got my COVID-19 booster shot, and during the next few weeks, I started to experience what I thought were flu-like symptoms: nausea, cold sweats, fatigue and overall malaise. You might like: Great news for coffee lovers: It can be really good for you. Here’s how to boost the benefits of your beans.I ignored the warning signs As cited by the CDC, additional heart attack signs and symptoms in men and women include chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, back, arm, or shoulder, and feeling nauseous, lightheaded or unusually tired. But I am not alone in ignoring these warning signs and symptoms. I was extremely busy. A close family member had suffered a hospital stay …