It's Medical Monday

Today is Medical Monday at Aortic Hope.

One of the questions we hear the most from community members who have had an aortic dissection is "𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?"

As discussed in 𝗔𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 on page 21:

"𝗔𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 is a rare condition. According to the National Library of Medicine, thoracic aortic dissection (TAD) is estimated to occur at a rate of 3-4 cases per 100,000 persons per year and is associated with a high mortality rate. Reported rates are probably underestimates of the true incidence of TAD because of difficulties in diagnosis.

𝗔𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 has several underlying causes, not all of which are fully understood. However, they all have a common feature which is that the aortic wall has become weak and unable to withstand the pressure of your blood, or the movement of the aorta created by the heart beating and your body moving.

There are various risk factors for 𝗮𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, including general health risk factors and genetic risk factors. No direct relationship exists which covers every case, thus the tern 'risk factors'. The more risk factors that someone has, or the more extreme a factor is, the more likely they are to have a dissection."

If you would like to learn more about the risk factors, please read pages 22-25. You may download your FREE copy by clicking here.