American Heart Month
February
The American Heart Association has declared February as American Heart Month. With that in mind, it is a good time to learn about cardiovascular health and to also take a personal look at our own lives and make any positive healthy changes we can.
Some statistics:
Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer disease in the United States. It kills more people each year that cancer, accidents and AIDS combined. Tragically, death is the first and last symptom of heart disease for almost one third of those who have it.
Heart disease is a term used to describe the result of different illnesses that affect heart health. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and high homocysteine levels are believed to contribute to heart disease. We are able to control or change these risk factors. Other controllable risk factors include cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, poor diet and being overweight
Interesting facts about Controllable risk factors:
Cigarette smoking: Risk of heart attack is more than twice that of non-smokers; it is the biggest risk factor for sudden cardiac death
High Cholesterol: Heart disease risk rises as cholesterol levels rise. To learn10 foods that lower cholesterol, visit: http://www.qualityhealth.com/10-foods-that-lower-cholesterol-11/featuredArticle
Physical inactivity: Regular, moderate exercise helps prevent heart and blood vessel disease; Exercise is one of the best ways of raising HDL (good cholesterol). Along with diet, regular exercise is probably the single most important thing we can do to improve heart health. There are tremendous positive health benefits to be gained from staying physically active for life.
Wonderful Benefits of Regular Physical Activity:
- Helps keep maintain a healthy weight
- Improves circulation, reducing the risk of heart disease
- Helps manage a healthy blood pressure
- Helps prevent bone loss
- Relieves stress and anxiety
- Improves sleep habits
- Helps maintain healthy energy level
- Delays and/or prevents age related illnesses
- Improves Mood
Being Overweight: Being overweight is directly linked to heart disease. It affects blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels and increases the risk of diabetes. It is suggested by researchers and experts in order to reduce the risk of heart disease and other illnesses we should try to maintain a BMI (body mass index) between 18.5 and 21.9. To calculate and understand your BMI, visit: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
High Homocysteine Levels: According to The American Heart Association, high homocysteine levels can also lead to heart disease. It can produce free radicals and oxidize cholesterol-causing damage to arteries.
Diet: The standard American diet has a direct unhealthy effect on the heart. A poor diet can lead to obesity, one of the leading causes of heart disease. A diet high in fruits and vegetables will provide B vitamins necessary to help control inflammation and reduce homocysteine levels.
Note: A healthy diet and regular physical activity may be considered the best medicine to maintain a healthy heart and may actually reverse heart disease.
There are also heart disease risk factors that we are not able to control. They include gender (men tend to develop heart disease earlier than women.); heredity (family history of early heart disease); and age (risk increases for men over 45 and for women over 55). By addressing the risk factors we can change and by choosing to live a healthy lifestyle, we can hopefully minimize the risk factors we cannot change.
We can all make positive changes to our heart health by identifying our own controllable risk factors, developing a good prevention program, getting regular medical check ups and knowing our numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.).
For more information on heart health, go to www.AmericanHeart.org
Friday, February 6, 2009, is Go Red for Women Day. To learn more, visit: http://www.goredforwomen.org/
References:
- Enhancing Heart Health: Preventing A Heart Attack, by Matthew Budoff, MD, FACC, copyright, 2003
- www.AmericanHeart.org
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