February is National Heart Month When we are talking about heart
disease in this context, we are really talking about coronary artery
disease, also known as CAD. . Heart disease is the number one killer of
both men and women in the United States. There are several risk factors
for heart disease that are not under our control. These include family
history, age and male sex. The good news is that there are many risk
factors that you can do something about.
you are a smoker, you significantly increase the risk of having a heart
attack. There are several options for quitting. Of course, many people
are able to quit on their own but if you feel you need additional help,
you may want to enroll in a smoking cessation program.
Control your cholesterol-If
you don’t know your cholesterol numbers, you should definitely find
out. Depending on the number of additional risk factors you have and
whether you have pre-existing heart disease, your doctor can tell you
what your ideal cholesterol numbers should be.
Manage your blood pressure-if
you have hypertension, you should definitely keep it well controlled.
Certain specific types of blood pressure medications have also shown to
provide additional protection against adverse outcomes of heart disease.
Again, it depends on the number and type of your additional cardiac
risk factors as to how you will choose to manage your blood pressure.
Tightly control your diabetes-the
risk of adverse events with diabetes is directly linked to how well you
control your blood sugar. If you are a diabetic, you should make sure
to check your blood sugar regularly and also have checks of your
Hemoglobin A1C test and Urine Microalbumin to follow how tightly you are
controlling your diabetes and whether you have early signs of
Get moving-Having a sedentary
lifestyle is associated with a higher risk of heart disease. Getting
regular exercise at a moderate to vigorous level is desirable but even
smaller amounts and less intense exercise can be beneficial. If you
don’t do anything else, try to incorporate small amounts of increased
activity throughout your day. When engaging in exercise or increased
activity, be sure to work with your doctor to make sure you don’t injure
Healthy weight-Achieving a healthy
weight is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Follow a
healthy diet and appropriate exercise as recommended by your doctor to
achieve your goals.
Eat right-appropriate diet
can affect many of the above risk factors for heart disease. You should
have a well balanced diet that is rich in antioxidants and fiber with
limitations of fats (especially saturated fats and trans-fats), salt and
empty calories (such as sugar).
the link and stress and heart disease is not as well understood as some
of the other risk factors, there have been multiple observational
studies that have noted a link between stress, anger and other emotional
states and the incidence of heart disease.?