The Heart is the most vital organ of the human body. This two sided pump works without stopping even for a moment throughout your journey on earth. So, if you live for one minute or over a hundred years from the time of your birth, it shows your heart works every seconds for that one minute or for those one hundred years without stopping. So your heart should be more important to you than any other part of your body and as the old adage says, "prevention is better than cure".

If you read through the dailies, the number of obituary adverts that will confront you will be mind-boggling if you add the number of deaths that did not appear in the newspapers, you will now reason that it is by the grace of God you are still living. A lot of those deaths are as a result of disorders of the circulatory system and the heart. And as far as the problems of the circulatory system and heart are concerned, prevention is the only real guarantee of survival.

The heart performs the function of supplying the cells in the whole body with nutrients and oxygen as every cell and organ in the body needs nourishment and oxygen to remain alive. These are supplied by the heart through the blood. So, if the heart stops pumping for a moment, it can lead to paralysis or death. Nature has created special types of muscles for the heart. In other parts of the body, if any muscle is damaged, new similar muscle-tissues are formed in the same place. But this is not true of the heart muscles. They can only die due to heart attack. So, what is HEART ATTACK?

The heart has four chambers and all assist in the pumping of blood to all parts of the body. We have the right atrium, the left atrium, the right ventricle and the left ventricle.

The heart of an average normal human being beats 72 times in a minute, but the heart of a person engaged in manual jobs beats slower at about 50 times per minute. Thus, the heart of an average human being beats 103,680 times per day.

Death of any segment of the heart affects blood supply and often leads to heart attack.

When the process of hardening and narrowing of the arteries, coronary arteries and any of its branches continue unabated and eventually gets fully blocked, such a development causes heart attack. A lot of factor could lead to this condition:

a. Age: This is the most important unavoidable cause of hardening of the blood vessels. Hardening of the blood vessels that normally lead to heart attack increases with advancing age. So, it is normal or often advises that if a person wants to escape heart attack, he or she should conduct an annual medical examination from age 35. this will give warning if there is going to be any trouble.

b. Heredity:some people inherit heart problem from there parents.

c. High cholesterol level in the blood: Higher than normal level of cholesterol in the blood expedites the process of hardening of the blood vessels.

d. High level of sugar in the blood (Diabetes): Diabetes always upsets metabolic process of carbohydrates, which allows the level of sugar to go up. And with the inadequate secretion of insulin, the blood vessels are adversely affected and heart attack sets in.

e. Smoking: To a smoker, chances of heart attack are 4-6 times higher. Heavy intake of carbon monoxide and nicotine (great poisons) destroys the lungs and the heart faster than any other factor.

f. High blood pressure: Like smoking, high blood pressure is also very dangerous to the heart.

g. Obesity: It is a known fact that obese persons are more prone to heart attack and death than any other person.

h. Psychological factor: Mental tension often leads to heart attack. It causes high blood pressure and often leads to death.

As I said earlier, prevention is better than cure and as far as the problem of circulatory system and heart is concerned, prevention is the only guarantee for survival.

Human beings need to control certain excesses: check your heart medically every year the moment you reach age 35. you can surely prevent heart-related disorders if you follow these tips:

1. Cultivate proper eating and living habits: diet is the most important factor of the treatment and prevention of heart disease. Your life and death mostly depend on what you eat.

2. Regular physical exercise is very necessary for any human being wishing to stay healthy. It always assist in burning out excess fat and assist the heart to function well.

3. Avoid smoking: you really need to keep totally away from smoking to live longer and to prevent the poisonous effect of carbon monoxide and nicotine from the lings and the heart.

4. Make necessary changes in your psychological attitude, avoid the problem that can cause mental vigor, forgive whoever offends you and take things of this world very simple, get closer to your God and be happy.

5. Control high blood pressure and diabetes. Your diet is also important in this area.

6. Reduce your weight: If it is above the normal level.

7. Also, there are many herbs that are very helpful in preventing and treating heart disorders. Garlic (Ayu in Yoruba) is an all purpose herb. You can grind garlic and mix it with pure honey. It is very good to the heart. Mistletoe (Viscum Flavascena), (Afomo Onisana in Yoruba) soaked in clean water, drink half a glass cup 2 times daily.

8. Daily intake of Vitamin E is very important (see my column on Vitamin E). It helps to reduce the hardening of the arteries and assist the heart to function well. Spinach (all green leafy vegetables) can be helpful. Also, daily intake of Vitamin B and C will greatly help your heart to work well.

You can prevent heart attack if you really follow the above tips and live a healthy life. Stay healthy and stay alive - peace.