Tips to Reduce Heart Disease Diabetes is deadlier today than ten years ago; two years after quitting smoking, life is already longer, Heart disease is responsible for 17.5 million deaths. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases, are responsible for 17.5 million premature deaths. And if we don’t change course, that number will rise to 23 million by 2030.
On World Heart Day, celebrated on September 29th, we recommend ten tips and habits to live healthier lives and make our hearts suffer less. For example, people who eat a Mediterranean diet and eat more than three servings of nuts, including pistachios, a week have a 39 percent lower risk of death.
1. Do Not Smoke Or Be Expose To Secondhand Smoke.
The evidence is overwhelming that cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure increase the risks of heart disease, lung disease, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke.
2. Maintain Healthy Blood Pressure.
High blood pressure, called hypertension, is known as “the silent killer” since it goes without symptoms in most individuals. The higher the blood pressure (BP), the greater the risk. Checking your blood pressure at home may be a better indicator for measuring your blood pressure than at the doctor’s office.
Others have “hidden” high blood pressure, usually higher when out of the office. Therefore, the prognosis is better concerning measuring blood pressure at home. However, it is essential that you only measure blood pressure in the upper arm as fingers or wrists will not give an accurate reading.
3. Control Your Cholesterol (Blood Lipids).
The amount of cholesterol in the blood is determined primarily by three factors: the amount produced by the liver (this is mainly genetic), the amount absorbed by the intestinal tract (this is made up of what you eat as well as what is produced by the liver and removed in the digestive tract.
Finally, age – your cholesterol increases with age If you are at risk, the use of medications is almost always necessary to lower your LDL or to raise your HDL level. The problem with diet is that, in general, it can only lower total blood cholesterol by about 10%. If you have a strong family history or elevated Lp(a) (rare abnormal cholesterol that increases risk), this is usually when drug therapy is required.
4. Limit calories. Tips to Reduce Heart Disease
Fad diets don’t work. If they did, we’d all be in on it. The obesity rate among Americans is alarming and contributes to what could almost be an epidemic of diabetes, a cardiovascular disease. If you have diabetes, your risk is the same as someone who has already had a heart attack. Obesity is creating by eating more calories than your body burns in a day. The accumulation of abdominal fat is the leading risk. Portion sizes and the number of sugars in the American diet have increased dramatically in recent decades. It is good advice to “drink slim” (water, tea, coffee).
5. Make Exercise A Daily Habit. Tips to Reduce Heart Disease
Lack of exercise is contributing to the obesity epidemic among Americans. Studies indicate that walking two miles is optimal for overall health, and those two miles don’t have to be all at once.
Exercise does more than burn calories; it also turns on genes that are beneficial to health in other ways. Also, practice is one of the best treatments for depression and anxiety. However, exercise alone cannot control or reduce your weight – you must also modify your diet.
6. Reduce Stress. Tips to Reduce Heart Disease
Stress contributes to cardiovascular disease and, if severe, can cause a heart attack or sudden death. Several options help reduce stress, such as regular exercise, getting enough sleep, having a good relationship with your partner, laughing, volunteering, or attending religious services. However, watching television is not an excellent relaxing way and may even aggravate stress. Also, avoid situations and people that make you anxious or angry.
7. Choose your pills wisely. Tips to Reduce Heart Disease
There is great interest in alternative medicine, which is understandable since patients want to take charge of their health. However, many people take alternative treatments due to the way of the market. The fact that a substance is “natural” does not prove its health benefits. It’s important to know that research data is often lacking for alternative medicines, supplements, and vitamins, none of which the FDA regulates. So, do we sometimes prescribe an alternative treatment? The most significant risk with many alternative medicines is that patients think they are doing something to improve their health when they are not.
Stay Informed: Science Is Constantly Changing.
The only constant changes. It is especially true in medicine, as new techniques and knowledge are constantly higher. Don’t believe every piece of “scientific information” in the media or advertisements. Many scientific research studies are published but poorly designed or contain unrepresentative performance data, for example, due to insufficient participants.
Please note that many studies are funded or sponsored by individuals or legal entities interested in obtaining favorable results. The situation can be incredibly confusing when scientific studies give different or even contradictory results, which happens very often.
Know The Risks. Tips to Reduce Heart Disease
The most influential risk factor for cardiovascular disease is age – the older you are, the greater your risk. The second is your genetic makeup. Although everyone is excited about the scientific progress in genomics research, genetic testing is still inconclusive as it is in its infancy.
But, as I tell our medical students, “A good family history is a genetic proof for the poor man.” We have long understood that if his parents, grandparents, or other relatives were affected by or died of heart disease, diabetes, or stroke, his risk is much higher.
Take Responsibility For Your Health.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading effect of death in the United States, accounting for 34% of deaths, many sudden and almost premature. It is down from 40% just 40 years ago, mainly due to the treatment of common risk factors. If you have diabetes, your risk increases dramatically.
Understanding the risks and treatment options is the best prevention against heart disease and stroke. The most considerable risk is ignorance or not being inform. The first step, then, is to take responsibility for your health.
Conclusion
The amount of cholesterol in the blood is determined primarily by three factors: the amount produced by the liver (this is mainly genetic), the amount absorbed by the intestinal tract (this is made up of what you eat as well as what is produced by the liver and removed in the digestive tract and, finally, age – your cholesterol increases with age If you are at risk, the use of medications is almost always necessary to lower your LDL or to raise your HDL level. Understanding the risks and treatment options is the best prevention against heart disease and stroke.