Heart Quiz

The following quiz is designed to help determine how much you know about heart disease. In addition to highlighting lifestyle decisions that could prevent heart disease there are steps that can be followed to minimize the chance for a fatal heart attack. One of the first rules is to call 911, if you even suspect that you or someone else is having a heart attack. According to Jeffrey Matican, MD, Section Chief of Cardiology at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center,“Time is critical and makes all the difference in survival and recovery. You want the right people on the spot who can intercede and give prompt medical attention to help lessen the degree of damage to the heart.”

1. You come home to find your loved one sitting on the couch saying he/she has bad chest pain. The person is pale, in a sweat and has what they are describing as “bad heartburn.” How do you know for sure if the person is having a heart attack?
a. Call your family doctor and wait to get advice on what to do
b. Quickly put him in your car and drive as fast as you can to the hospital emergency room
c. Call 911 and wait for an ambulance to arrive

2. In addition to chest pain, what are some other common symptoms associated with having a heart attack?
a. Shortness of breath
b. Sweating
c. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
d. All of the above

3. What is the leading cause of death for American women?
a. Breast Cancer
b. Heart Disease and Stroke
c. Car Accidents

4. Do women have different symptoms for heart attack than men?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes

5. Which of the following symptoms are unique to women?
a. A feeling of tightness in the chest
b. Feeling tired and lethargic for weeks
c. Feeling nauseas (sick to your stomach)

6. People who get a heart attack
a. Always have symptoms
b. Never have symptoms
c. Sometimes have symptoms

7. What other causes can simulate a heart attack?
a. Angina
b. Pneumonia or an upper respiratory infection
c. Gall bladder disease
d. All of the above

8. Each year approximately 1.1 million people suffer from new and recurrent heart attacks and fatal coronary heart disease. Although mortality rates differ depending upon the type and location of the heart attack and how extensive the damage is, what is the single most important factor in surviving once symptoms of a heart attack occur?
a. Getting medical attention by paramedics or in a hospital emergency room within the first hour that symptoms of a heart attack develop.
b. Having maintained a healthy diet
c. Having taken one aspirin a day for at least the past month.

9. What are major risk factors that a person can modify to lessen their chance of developing coronary heart disease?
a. Smoking cigarettes
b. Having high blood pressure
c. Being overweight and leading a sedentary life
d. All of the above

10. What role do genetics play in the risk of heart attack?
a. None at all
b. You are only at risk if your parents had high cholesterol.
c. If your mother had a heart attack before 65 or your father before 55 your risk for heart attack is greatly increased.

11. Can controlling stress lessen your risk for heart attack?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes

12. As the low-density lipoprotein or LDL (known as the "bad" cholesterol) rises, so does the risk of coronary heart disease. What else affects a person’s cholesterol level?
a. Blood pressure
b. Tobacco smoke
c. Age
d. All of the above

13. To control high cholesterol you could:
a. Take medication to control it
b. Change your diet
c. Exercise
d. All of the above

14. What is the correlation between diabetes (high glucose) and heart disease?
a. Having diabetes is equivalent to having coronary artery disease.
b. No correlation
c. High glucose levels only matter if the person is over-weight

15. What is the Number 1 contributor to heart disease?
a. Smoking tobacco
b. Genetics
c. Cholesterol

Click here for Answer Key.