What is a Heart Attack?

The heart works 24 hours a day, pumping oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the body. Blood is supplied to the heart through its coronary arteries. If a blood clot suddenly blocks a coronary artery, it cuts off most or all blood supply to the heart, and a heart attack results. Cells in the heart muscle that do not receive enough oxygen-rich blood begin to die. The more time that passes without treatment to restore blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart.

Having a heart attack is a big wakeup call for most people. There's usually no problem convincing a heart attack survivor to change his or her lifestyle-to quit smoking, control their high blood pressure and cholesterol, control their weight and get regular physical activity.
Each year, more than one million people in the U.S. have a heart attack and about half - 515,000 - of them die. Half of those who die do so within one hour of the start of symptoms and before reaching the hospital.
A heart attack is an emergency. Call emergency services if you think you or someone else may be having a heart attack. Prompt treatment of a heart attack can help prevent or limit damage to the heart and prevent sudden death.

It is important to call emergency services fast - within 5 minutes - because emergency personnel can give a variety of treatments and medicines at the scene. They carry drugs and equipment that can help your medical condition, including

• oxygen
• aspirin to prevent further blood clotting
• heart medications, such as nitroglycerin
• pain relief treatments
• defibrillators that can restart the heart if it stops beating.

If blood flow in the blocked artery can be restored quickly, permanent heart damage may be prevented. Yet, many people do not seek medical care for 2 hours or more after symptoms start. The symptoms of a heart attack can include chest discomfort, discomfort in other areas of the upper body, shortness of breath, and other symptoms.
The most common symptom of heart attack is chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. It can be mild or severe. Heart attack pain can sometimes feel like indigestion or heartburn.
Discomfort can also occur in other areas of the upper body, including pain or numbness in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach. Shortness of breath often happens along with, or before chest discomfort. Other symptoms may include breaking out in a cold sweat, having nausea and vomiting, or feeling light-headed or dizzy or fainting.
Signs and symptoms vary from person to person. In fact, if you have a second heart attack, your symptoms may not be the same as the first heart attack. Some people have no symptoms. This is called a "silent" heart attack.
Angina is chest pain or discomfort that occurs when your heart muscle does not get enough blood. Angina symptoms can be very similar to heart attack symptoms. If you have angina and notice a sudden change or worsening of your symptoms, talk with your doctor right away.
If you think you may be having a heart attack, or if your angina pain does not go away as usual when you take your angina medication as directed, call emergency services for help. You can begin to receive life saving treatment in the ambulance on the way to the emergency room.

Malaria mortality rates down, but progress threatened by funding shortfall, WHO report says

"Malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25 percent globally since 2000, and by 33 percent in the WHO African Region, according to the World Malaria Report 2011, issued [Tuesday] by [the] WHO," the organization reports in a press release. "This is the result of a significant scaling-up of malaria prevention and control measures in the last decade," the press release adds. However, the press release notes, "WHO warns that a projected shortfall in funding threatens the fragile gains and that the double challenge of emerging drug and insecticide resistance needs to be proactively addressed" (12/13). 
"At a press conference to launch the [report], Awa Marie Coll-Seck, executive director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, said the numbers showed that 'bold leadership and partnership' were saving millions of lives," but "she warned that 'unless we maintain our commitment to scale up the proven, cost-effective tools we have to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria, today's gains will be reversed and we will lose many more lives to this disease,'" a U.N. news briefing states (12/13). "The toll taken by the current economic crisis must not result in our gains being reversed, or progress slowed. With Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's charge for near zero deaths by end of 2015, turning back now is not an option," Raymond Chambers, the U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy for malaria, said, according to the WHO press release (12/13).

Caramel apple party snack mix

Apples and caramel have long been a traditional combination in recipes during the Fall especially around October and Halloween. You rarely see a Halloween party that doesn’t have caramel apples or apples and caramel dip. This tradition has been taken a step up and today you’ll find many recipes combining apples and caramel. I found a Chex apple pie snack mix recipe and changed it a bit to give it the caramel apple flavor.  I am posting below. This will be a great addition to the Halloween party menu. Your daycare children will love it!

Caramel apple party snack mix

• 3 cups cinnamon Chex cereal
• 3 cups of Rice Chex cereal
• 1 cup of broken pretzels ( the thin sticks)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teasppon of ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 2 cups dried or freeze-dried apples, coarsely chopped if necessary
• Caramel flavored Magic Shell (ice cream topping)

Instructions:

1. In large microwavable bowl, mix cereals and pretzels.
2. In 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg uncovered for about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until smooth and bubbly. Pour over cereal mixture, stir until evenly coated.
3. Microwave uncovered on High 4 minutes, stirring after each minute. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool. Sprinkle apples evenly over cereal mixture.
4. Drizzle caramel Magic Shell topping over the mixture. Let the caramel topping harden.
5. Mix lightly and store in an airtight container.

What to do with unused dried up baby wipes

If you’re like me, a container of baby wipes doesn’t last near as long as you need them. Then there are those times when we are hurried and might forget to close the lid just to find out later that they have lost all of their moisture. Rest assured all is not lost. Instead of throwing those dried up baby wipes in the trash make good use out of them. After all who can afford to throw them out?

1. Mix up a light solution of baby bath soap and water, pour into the container of dried wipes and let soak. Use them any time you need a wet cloth just as you would have before they became dried up.
2. Keep them in the bathroom dry and when you need a wet wash cloth, add a little hand soap and water and viola!

• Use them to wipe down counters and toilet seat.
• Use them for wiping off eye makeup.
• Use them for wiping noses.
• Use them on your Swiffer mop to dust your floors or with mop solution(which works great btw).
• Use them to dust your furniture.

When they’re gone use the empty baby wipe containers for crayons, art supplies small toys or make crafts with them. You could even use them for a planter.

Young Children Collaborate Better Than Chimps

Three-year-old kids preferred to solve problems together, unlike primates

By Robert Preidt

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Related MedlinePlus Page

• Child Development

THURSDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Human children are more likely than chimpanzees to collaborate when solving a problem, a new study finds.
Researchers compared the responses of 3-year-old children in Germany with semi-free-ranging chimpanzees in a Democratic Republic of Congo sanctuary.
Both the children and the chimps were given a task they could do on their own or with a partner. Individuals could pull two ends of a rope themselves in order to get a food reward or pull one end while a partner pulled the other end.
The children cooperated 78 percent of the time, compared with 58 percent for the chimps.
The findings suggest that minor motivational variations may be the basis of behavioral differences between humans and other species, according to study author Daniel Haun, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
The study appears online Oct. 13 in the journal Current Biology.
"A preference to do things together instead of alone differentiates humans from one of our closely related primate cousins," Haun said in a journal news release. "Once we know the underlying motivations of this tendency, we will have learned something new about human nature that differentiates it from chimpanzee nature."
He and his colleagues noted that human societies are built on collaboration and children learn the value of collaboration at an early age.
Future research should compare collaboration among a number of primate species in an effort to learn more about the evolutionary history of the trait, the study authors said.

SOURCE: Current Biology, news release, Oct. 10, 2011

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Adolescent & Teen Prescription Drug Abuse

Battling Prescription Drug Addiction: Teen Prescription Drug Rehab

In the 1960s, teens were well-known for using a variety of street drugs, such as cocaine, marijuana, LSD and ecstasy, but today, teenagers are more known to use prescription drugs instead. For that, this generation has been labeled “generation Rx”. The reason many teenagers are using prescription drugs over the usual street drugs is because they’re more under the radar and easier to obtain. In some cases, they’re also affordable. Many prescription drugs are even available online. If you have a teen in your home that you suspect is stealing your prescription drugs or getting them from outside the home, you should consider getting teen prescription drug addiction treatment. Now, is your chance to learn about:

• Types of prescription drugs being used by teens
• Side effects of teen prescription drug addiction
• Risk factors for teen prescription drug usage

Types of Prescription Drugs Used by Teenagers

It is a fact that one out of every five teenagers abuse prescription pain medications. About one out of five of those abusing prescription drugs are reported and one out of ten teens that abuse prescription drugs use cough medicine for their addiction. Parents are known to keep prescription drugs lying around in the kitchen, medicine cabinet and bedroom without thinking that their teenager could be at risk of abusing them. Some of the prescription drugs that teens are known to abuse include:

• Painkillers, such as Oxycontin, Percocet, Codeine, Vicodin and Tylenol.
• Depressants/downers that are used for panic attacks, anxiety, tension, severe stress reactions and sleeping problems; such as Klonopin, Soma, Xanax, Valium, Nembutal and Ambien.
• Stimulants/uppers, which are used for ADHD, asthma, obesity, respiratory issues and sleeping problems, like Ritalin, Dexedrine and Concerta.
• Steroids for physical appearance.

Side Effects of Teen Prescription Drug Abuse

The side effects that your teen could witness all depends on the prescription drug they are using. Each one comes with their own set of side effects, and they tend to be greater when the drug is being abused. In some cases, it can cause lethal side effects. Here is a quick list:

• Painkillers: addiction, vomiting, nausea, lack of energy, lack of concentration and apathy
• Depressants/downers: loss of coordination, poor concentration, coma, death, feeling confused, dizziness, slurred speech, respiratory depression and lowered blood pressure
• Stimulants/uppers: anxiety, cardiovascular collapse, convulsions, aggression, suicidal/homicidal tendencies, hostility, vomiting, tremors, excessive sweating and increased heart and respiratory rates
• Steroids: kidney cancer, hair loss, severe acne, liver cysts, liver cancer and jaundice

Risk Factors Associated with Teen Prescription Drug Addiction

There are teens who are at special risk to developing prescription drug abuse habits. Read the below to see if your child fits in any of the categories:

• Family history of alcohol or drug abuse
• Depression
• Feels tired and sluggish often
• Low self-esteem
• Feel unpopular or disliked
• Aggressive and rebellious

It is important that you seek teen prescription drug addiction treatment as soon as you notice any warning signs. Abusing pain medication carries with it a number of risks, and you wouldn’t want any of that to befall your teenager.