Coronary heart disease / heart attack
Ischaemic heart disease, angina, myocardial infarction
What it is
The blood vessels that feed the heart become narrow with fatty build-up. The heart gets too little blood, causing chest pain. If a vessel is fully blocked, part of the heart dies — this is a heart attack.
Common signs
- Chest pain or pressure, often when walking or working
- Pain spreading to the arm, neck, jaw or back
- Short of breath
- Cold sweat, feeling sick
- Some people, like women and people with diabetes, have mild or no pain
How it is diagnosed
A health worker asks about your chest pain and does an ECG (heart tracing). Blood tests can show if the heart muscle is damaged. Some people need a heart scan or special X-ray of the heart vessels.
Tests
- ECG (heart tracing) — shows strain or damage to the heart
- Troponin blood test — shows if heart muscle is damaged
- Cholesterol and sugar blood tests — check the main causes
- Echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) — shows how well the heart pumps
How food affects it
Healthy food lowers blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar, which slows the damage. Eat more vegetables, beans, fish and whole grains, and less fried food and salt. Food cannot clear blocked vessels. Keep taking your medicines and talk to your health worker.
Food as medicine, alongside your medicine. Food works alongside your medicines, not instead of them. Never stop or change your tablets without talking to your health worker.
Eat often
- Vegetables and leafy greens at every meal (efo, kontomire, sukuma wiki, garden egg, okra)
- Beans, cowpeas, lentils and groundnuts (unsalted)
- Fish like sardines, mackerel and tilapia, boiled or grilled
- Whole grains: millet, sorghum, teff, brown rice
- Fruit: orange, pawpaw, guava, avocado
Eat in moderation
- Palm oil and coconut oil — use small amounts
- Red meat — small lean pieces, not every day
- Eggs — a few a week
- Rice, yam, gari and fufu — small portions
Avoid or cut down
- Fried foods and snacks (puff-puff, chin chin, akara fried in old oil)
- Fatty meat, offal, suya with fat, and processed meats
- Stock cubes and salty foods
- Sugary drinks and sweets
- Smoking and heavy drinking
Get help urgently
Go to hospital now if you have chest pain lasting more than a few minutes, pain spreading to the arm or jaw, or chest pain with sweating or trouble breathing.
General information, not a diagnosis. Always follow the advice of your health worker.