Q. What are the causes of aneurysm and can it be prevented?
Doctor Answer is medically reviewed by SecondMedic medical review team.
The sun had just risen over the sprawling city of Los Angeles, and the morning light illuminated a bustling street corner. A young woman named Emily was walking along when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. She stopped and doubled over, clutching at her stomach as if it could somehow ease the sudden ache that seemed to be radiating from within her body.
She tried to ignore it, but after a few minutes it only became worse—it was like someone was squeezing or pinching something inside of her with every step she took. Finally, Emily decided enough was enough and called for an ambulance to take her to the nearest hospital.
Once there, doctors ran some tests on Emily's health and discovered that she had an abdominal aortic aneurysm—a condition where one of the arteries near your heart has become swollen due to weakened walls in its lining. It can be caused by high blood pressure or other genetic factors such as family history of this condition; often times however, medical professionals are unable to pinpoint exactly what causes these types of ailments because they can happen unexpectedly without any prior warning signs.
Fortunately for Emily though, doctors were able repair the problem before it got worse using surgical procedures such as endovascular stent grafts or open-heart surgery depending on how severe the case is. Afterwards, they also provided tips on lifestyle changes which can help reduce further risk including quitting smoking (if applicable) exercising regularly eating healthy foods and maintaining ideal weight levels through dieting if necessary , among other things . With these measures in place plus regular checkups with cardiologists , people who have been diagnosed with this type of aneurysm should hopefully be able live normal lives again .