Seven tips to lower your risk of heart disease
Heart disease is one of the main causes of death amongst women. Although women suffer fewer heart attacks than men, women are far less likely to survive when they do have a heart attack. Men and women should be very aware of the risks of heart disease and take steps to reduce their risk.
Here are seven things that you can do that will reduce the risk of heart disease.
1. Stop smoking.
Smoking increases the risk of heart disease. If you are having trouble stopping smoking, try using a nicotine patch or gum.
2. Find out your blood pressure.
When the arteries of the body and the heart are narrowed due to plaque build up in the vessels, blood pressure will increase. When blood is under such pressure, it can dislodge pieces of arterial plaque into the bloodstream. This could lead to a heart attack if the plaque lodges in a coronary artery, or a stroke if the plaque lodges in the brain.
Hypertension and Heart Disease
Some people mistakenly believe that hypertension means that an individual is hyperactive, nervous, tense or very stressed out. That is not what hypertension is. Hypertension is the medical or scientific term for high blood pressure.
In fact it is very possible for a person to feel very calm and relaxed but still have hypertension even though they don’t show any obvious symptoms. This is why hypertension is quite often referred to as the ’silent killer’. The only way to know for sure whether or not you have hypertension is to have your blood pressure checked by a healthcare professional.
Hypertension can be deadly and should always be taken seriously. It causes the heart to work beyond its normal capacity, which means that both the heart and the arteries are more likely to be damaged. High blood pressure raises the potential for both heart attacks and strokes to occur. It also paves the way for congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis, kidney failure, and damage to the eyes.
If hypertension is left untreated, the heart is then forced to work harder than it should to pump enough blood and oxygen to the organs and tissues of the body. A heart that is forced to work beyond its normal capacity over an extended period of time will enlarge to an abnormal size and become weaker. A heart that is only enlarged a small amount could possibly still function adequately , unlike a seriously enlarged heart that will not.
Reducing The Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in industrialized nations and yet it is a disease that owes itself mainly to lifestyle choices, which means that by making the right healthy decisions you can substantially reduce your risk of falling victim to the disease.
Although there is nothing you can do about risk factors such as age, diabetes, and genetic factors , there are plenty of things that you can do to keep yourself healthy and safe.
Cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease
One of the main things that you can do to prevent a case of cardiovascular disease is to carefully monitor your cholesterol levels. Generally speaking, doctors recommend striving to maintain a level of total cholesterol that is lower than 150 in order to lessen the risk of cardiovascular disease. There area number of ways in which you can decrease your cholesterol levels, including taking medications that can decrease your cholesterol, as well as engaging in healthy eating practices.
Keep Your Cholesterol Low To Ward Off Heart Disease
It’s a fact that there are many genetic factors that can affect your likelihood of developing heart disease, and some people are more prone to developing it than others. However there are steps you can take that will lessen your chances of developing heart disease.
One of those steps is to keep your cholesterol levels low.
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a waxy compound that is found in animal products. There are two different types of cholesterol - low density lipoproteins, or LDLs, and high density lipoproteins, or HDLs.
Low density lipoproteins are considered bad cholesterol, and you need to do your best to maintain low levels of this type of cholesterol. HDLs, by contrast, are known as ‘good’ cholesterol, and high levels of it are acceptable
Angina Symptoms
While a great number of people are familiar with heart disease and the fact that it affects a vast cross-section of the population, comparatively few people know about the symptom known as angina. Angina can be agonizingly painful and in this article, we’ll be speaking about angina and letting you know how to identify the symptoms as well as telling you what you can do to lessen the impact.
In order for you to understand what angina is, you should first learn to be able to recognize the symptoms.
Most patients who experience angina say that the symptoms feel like pressure that is present within the chest. Sometimes there is pain in the neck and arms in addition to the pain in the chest. This pain most often occurs when the patient with heart disease is engaged in some kind of physical activity, which can activate the angina. Something else that can also happen during a bout of angina is shortness of breath.