will i live a full life

[bill289]

I am now 34 years old and i had a heart attack at 31, they put a stent in and said there were two others that were not bad enough to stent. my cholesterol was terrible and i had high blood pressure at the time but now they are both under control. im a little over weight about 30 lbs and i had a lot of stress in my life for the 2 years before that. im affraid to do anything for im affraid i will have another heart attack. my question is should i expect my life to be somewhat shorter than normal.

[kenkeith]

A heart attack by definition is an MI (myocardial infarction).  An MI reults from lack of oxygen to the heart cells, viral disease, etc. and there is necrosis of heart cells.  The dead cells will impair the heart's ability to adequately pump blood into circulation as measured by EF.  EF is the percentage of blood pumped into circulation with each heartbeat.  If there is very little damage, your heart's functionality may not be impaired and the EF is normal.

A "heart attack" is sometimes not an MI, but there can be damaged heart cells (referred to medically as hibernating heart cells) due to a slow process of decreased oxygenated from blocked arteries.  Hibernating cells can be revitalized by opening a good flow of blood to the deficit area.  Based on your posts that may be what happened to you.

[bill289]

oh yes of course im sorry

[lulama]

And, of course, you meant to thank all these kind people who went to the  trouble of answering you, eh?

[bill289]

i dont know what ef% is, but my dr. said their was very little damage if any done

[Jo846]

I have never had a heart attack.  My EJ was down to 12-15%.  Last test it was at 25%.  I am having another EF test at the end of February.  This improvement is all due to a Stem Cell procedure done in November 2008.  My heart issues were caused by a virus.  

[sukumar794]

Can a heart patient with EF as low as 31% hope to live many more years(present age is 58).?

[erijon]

Much depends on you EF%, do you know what your last EF% was and was there any damage to your heart?

Medical professionals can do amazing things now, I would certainly not live my life in fear, but in knowledge.

Good Luck!

Jon

[Wisconsin2007]

I have a relative that had a heart attack in his early 30's.  Adding insult to injury, during a surgery for that issue he got Hepatitis through a blood transfusion.  That was about 35 years ago, and he's still alive and doing well.

But he did heed his doctor's warnings back then and changed his diet and started getting regular exercise.  He's not a great physical specimen, still a bit overweight, but he does all the things other people in their 60's do.

Hope that helps.

[ireneo]

I've known people that had a single heart attack, changed their lifestyle and went on for a long time. Then there was my Dad - had 4 heart attacks, never changed his lifestyle - still ate terrible food, smoked and rarely moved out of his chair. He lived to be 80 years old and died from cancer, not his heart. You never know.  But don't assume a heart attack is the end of living a full life.

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

no you should not, these days the medical field is so good they can do all kinds of things to help you . i have known a few to have heart attacks in 20 and still live to be 80 so you can worry yourself about how long you will live ( easy to say huh) because you will cause stress and shorten your own life.  just keep up with all your dr appts and try and live stress free which is very hard now but as little as stress as you can.dont sit around and wait for another because you yourself can cause one by stress.  enjoy life and do as your drs say.

[bill289]

i guess what i mean has their been any studies or anything done with people who have had heart attacks in there early 30s. most of my history live in their mid 70s should i expect mine to be much less because of the early heart attack

[sukumar794]

You have a point there. Life expectancy can never be predicted even by most expertised physician. I am 59 years of age ..had a heart attack last year, but being asymptomatic of complications, I do hope to live many years more.

[Bob_D]

I'm no expert, but I would suggest you look to your family history as guide to your life expectancy. How long did your parents and grandparents live?

Testimonials are the worst kind of evidence, but my grandfather had a heart attack at age 55 and went on to live to his eighties.