Cardiovascular health

04.Jargon buster

• CVD event means new angina (heart pain), a heart attack (damage to the heart caused by a blocked heart artery), stroke, peripheral vascular disease or CVD-related death.
• Stroke refers to the blockage or bursting of an artery taking blood to the brain. It can be minor with temporary symptoms, which is called a ‘transient ischaemic attack’ or TIA.
• Vascular refers to blood vessels.
• Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the full name for heart disease.
• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) refers collectively to CHD, stroke, and arterial disease in other parts of the body such as peripheral arterial disease and renovascular (kidney) disease.
• Atherosclerosis is sometimes used as an alternative to CVD. It is a more descriptive name, alluding to the thickening and hardening of the blood vessel walls, which causes CVD.
• Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is the federal government program that determines the eligibility guidelines for government-subsidised medication.
• Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of overweight. It is a person’s weight divided by height squared (kg/m²). An index of <18.5 is underweight, 18.5 to <25
  is ideal, 25 to <30 is overweight and 30+ is obese.
• Waist circumference, at belly button level, of 94cm-101cm in men and 80cm-87cm in women represents overweight, and above 101cm and 87cm, respectively, is a measure of obesity.
• Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) gives a measure of central or abdominal fat relative to peripheral fat. The waist is measured at belly button level and the hips at maximum circumference.

First aid - Stroke

Know the symptoms and limit damage. Use the FAST test:

• Facial weakness – can the person still smile?
• Has their mouth or an eye dropped?
• Arm weakness – can the person raise both arms?
• Speech – can the person speak clearly and logically and understand what you say?
• Time to act – call 000.