For decades, Mark Chandler, 40, of Edgewater, had annual medical examinations required by his job as a firefighter.
That didn?t help the former smoker escape a heart attack.
“I?ve never had problems with my heart,” Chandler said.
“I have a family history of heart disease, but was symptom-free up until my heart attack.”
His checkups consistently showed his blood pressure and cholesterol within normal levels; however, doctors said the arterial plaque accumulates silently, often without symptoms as it narrows the arteries and restricts blood flow.
On April 11, Chandler woke from a nap feeling as though someone was choking him.
His chest burned and pain radiated down his left arm, he said.
“As an [emergency medical technician,] I know the symptoms of a heart attack. The pain was indescribable,” he said.
“I called 911 immediately. Less than 90 minutes later, I was in an Anne Arundel Medical Center operating room, receiving an emergency angioplasty.”
The angioplasty widened a choked artery, enhancing blood flow, but Chandler?s health depended, in part, on quitting smoking.
“Since the 1940s we?ve known that smoking is linked to heart disease,” said Dr. John Martin, director of the AAMC Vascular Center.
“Even being subjected to passive or secondhand smoke can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.”
Smoking damages the lining of the blood vessels, Martin said, and increases fatty deposits in the arteries. “More fatty deposits lead to increased risk of blockages,” he said.
“In addition, smoking increases clotting, raises LDL cholesterol ? bad cholesterol ? and reduces HDL ? good cholesterol.”
Although Chandler said smoking was only one contributing factor ? family history and career being others ? he got the message that he needed to do whatever it took to save his heart.
“I haven?t had a cigarette since the day it happened,” he said.
