Let's talk about heart disease and what you can do to help
lower your risk of getting a heart attack.
It is about what is called "risk reduction." No one can
promise you that if you make all the changes in the world
you will never have a heart attack (hey, you can get hit by
a car while crossing the street after buying your lowfat
soy mocha). What you need to do is work on reducing your
RISK for developing the disease.
To that end, let me tell you about the different types of
risk factors involved in heart disease.
I divide risk factors into two categories:changeable and
non-changeable; ones you can do something about, and ones
you can't.
There are three non changeable risk factors for heart
disease: age, gender and genetics. You can't change the
fact that, even as you read this article, you are getting
older, and the older you are, the greater your risk for
heart disease. The idea is to put that off for as long as
possible! Males tend to have more heart attacks than women,
particularly pre menopausal women. It seems that post
menopausal women have the same risk for heart disease as
men. It is possible that there is a hormonal reason for
this, but none of the studies have been able to prove that
replacing the hormones lost during menopause (particularly
estrogen and progesterone) eliminates the risk. However,
research is ongoing, so we shall have to wait and work on
our changeable risk factors!
The third non changeable factor is genetics.
Unfortunately, you cannot pick your parents, and if your
folks had heart disease at an early age, your are at
increased risk yourself.
Which brings us to: changeable risk factors. There are many
ways you can modify your behavior to reduce your risk for
heart disease-including the following:
1-Diet. By changing the composition of your diet, you may
be able to reduce the buildup of cholesterol (actually what
is known as "plaque") on your artery walls. Reducing your
saturated fat intake is a big step. Saturated fat is found
primarily in animal foods, so try to buy lean cuts of meat,
fish, poultry. Using unsaturated fats, such as nuts,
seeds, oils may help lower your cholesterol levels as well.
2-Exercise. Increasing activity may help make your heart
stronger, and increase your blood levels of HDL, also known
as healthy cholesterol.
3-Quit smoking. While the chemicals in cigarettes may not
affect your blood cholesterol, they do act to make your
arteries less flexible-a condition known as
arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
4- Reduce stress. However you define stress, find a way to
deal with it! Yoga, pilates, meditation-you need to lower
your stress levels because they may be related to raising
yet another risk factor->
5-Blood Pressure. If you are overweight, unable to deal
with stress, your blood pressure may rise, increasing your
risk for heart attack and stroke. Lifestyle change and
medication may be very helpful at reducing blood pressure.
These are only a few of the ways you can modify the
changeable risk factors in your life to lower your chances
for developing heart disease. You need to decide what
you are capable of doing, working together with your health
care providers and your family. While there are no
guarantees, there are no downsides to making time to take
care of yourself.
Now get started!
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