Live Heart-Healthy!

 

Heart Disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, and the number one killer of women, beating out all types of cancer combined. 

 

Unfortunately, most people fail to make the connection between risk factors and their personal risk of developing heart disease. 

 

Before you can understand the risk factors, you must understand what cardiovascular disease (CVD) is. The term refers to any disease of the heart and its blood vessels.  This includes:  hypertension (high blood pressure), peripheral artery disease, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), high cholesterol, and heart attack. 

 

There are several risk factors that contribute to CVD.  These can all be controlled or treated with medications and/or lifestyle changes.

 

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance found in the blood and in all the body’s cells.  High cholesterol levels can cause a build up of plaque in the artery walls, which can narrow the arteries and reduce blood flow.  If the plaque ruptures, it can cause blood clots that can block the flow of blood through the arteries.  A clot can travel to other areas of the body, like the heart, causing a heart attack, or to the brain, causing a stroke.

 

High blood pressure makes the heart work harder than normal because it requires more force to push the blood through the blood vessels.  It raises the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, eye damage, congestive heart failure and arthrosclerosis.  Being 20 or more pounds over your healthy body weight increases your risk of high blood pressure.

 

High cholesterol and high blood pressure are called the silent killers because they often do not have any symptoms and many people do not know, or do not want to know, that they have them.  Both can be controlled or reversed with medications and lifestyle changes, so find out what your numbers are and lower them if you need to.

 

Other risk factors that you can control yourself include smoking, physical inactivity and obesity.

 

Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the US.  There is good news though, when you stop smoking – no matter how long or how much you’ve smoked – your risk of heart disease and stroke starts to drop.  It is cut in half after one year without smoking, and then continues to decline.  Enough said!

 

Regular, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity improves your cardiovascular fitness, reducing your risk of CVD and helping you lose weight.  Exercise also helps to control or lower high cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes.  The American Heart Association recommends a minimum of 30 minutes most days of the week.  Moderate activities could be walking, gardening, housework or dancing. 

 

So, during this month of the heart (Happy Valentine’s Day), learn your numbers, lower your risk factors, and live heart-healthy.  If you need support and guidance for starting and maintaining a fitness program, give me a call and find out more about my heart-healthy programs.

 

	Heart Attack Warning Signs

 

Studies show that only 1 in 5 people make it to the ER within one hour of the onset of heart attack symptoms!

Now that you know the risk factors associated with heart disease, knowing the warning signs of a heart attack and how to respond quickly can save your life.

 

Some heart attacks are sudden and intense, but most start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort.   Often, people are not sure what is wrong and wait too long to get help.  Here are the signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:

 

Chest discomfort:  Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back.  It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

 

Discomfort in other areas of upper body:  Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

 

Shortness of breath with or without chest pain.

 

Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

 

Women beware:  Besides having chest pain or discomfort, women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some other common symptoms that include extreme weakness, pain in the jaw or back; dizziness, nausea, vomiting, sweating and shortness of breath. 

 

Many people may dismiss their symptoms as anxiety or indigestion, and do not seek help.  They don’t want to cause a false alarm.  However, if you are having a heart attack every minute counts, so don’t wait more than five minutes to get help – then call 9-1-1!

 

Tips from the American Heart Association website:  www.americanheart.org

	Heart Healthy Foods

 

The following foods can help lower your LDL  (bad) cholesterol:

 

Garlic has a mild cholesterol lowering effect and also keeps LDL from building up in the arteries.  You need to consume several cloves a day to get the protective benefits.  To fit it into your meals, use garlic as often as you can in cooking.  It can add zip to many dishes.  Or, try stirring a teaspoon of chopped garlic into two tablespoons of mayo and use as a spread on a sandwich.

 

Almonds:  When adults ate about an ounce of these nuts a day as part of a healthy diet, their LDL levels dropped 13 to 20 percent, according to researchers at the University of Toronto.  While all nuts are nutritious, almonds have the most vitamin E, an antioxidant that protects cells against atherosclerosis.  They are also a good source of calcium.

 

 

 

If you have high blood pressure, try out these foods:

 

Fresh Herbs can be a healthy substitute for salt, which has almost 2400 mg of sodium per teaspoon and can increase your blood pressure.  Instead of salt, try sprinkling dishes with chopped fresh herbs.  Chives and rosemary complement potatoes, parsley perks up eggs, sage goes well with poultry, and thyme can add zip to air-popped popcorn.

 

Lowfat or Nonfat Yogurt has about 50 percent more blood pressure-lowering calcium and potassium than lowfat milk.  Studies have shown that people who ate enough of these 2 minerals and kept their sodium intake low experienced drops in blood pressure. 

 

Tips from SHAPE magazine, February 2008.  www.shape.com

 

 

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