Aspirins

heart attack?

my dad was going to china from singapore. when he got inside the plane his said his heart felt weird. then he got off,sensing something wrong. then after a few tests, the doctrs confirmed that he got a mild heart attack. he is smoker, and finally now is determined to quit. i am worried however, that he would just stop completely instead of just cutting down on cigarretes slowly. i have heard of many cases where people die from stopping smoking immediately. is it completely safe to do so?

Public Comments

1. The slowly cutting down method doesn't work. As long as nicotine is coming into the body, the body is gonna demand the higher levels it's use to. Quiting cold turkey is realistically the only way to go about it. Most the symptoms are mental, so the increased anxiety would be the only real worry that could effect his heart. A Dr. should prescribe him a anti-anxiety and/or anti-depression med to not only reduce this risk, but to also aid in helping him quit.
2. Good for your dad for making this decision, and good for you for giving him much needed support! Quitting smoking is probably one of the most difficult challenges he can face, but one of the most important for future heart health. This page http://www.smart-heart-living.com/quit_smoking.html offers some information and resources he might find helpful. Other pages on this website offer lots of good information about living a heart healthy lifestyle. The home page is http://www.smart-heart-living.com/index.html and leads you to sections with tips on exercise, proper diet, managing stress, and so on. Good luck to you and your dad!
3. This Patient Guide is written for the loved ones of heart patients who are dealing with the short-term stress that comes with a test, procedure or recent diagnosis of heart disease. It explains why support is so important to a loved one with heart disease. It also offers practical strategies on how to support a loved one while also taking care of yourself.