How to maintain a healthy heart?

Deaths of cardiovascular origin account for 30% of deaths worldwide. There are many risk factors badociated with heart disease. Some risk factors, such as family history, can not be changed, while others such as hypertension, diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol can be altered with treatment and lifestyle changes.

If you have a risk factor, you will not necessarily develop cardiovascular disease. But the more risk factors you have, the more likely you are to do so unless you take steps to change your risk factors and avoid compromising them for your heart health.

Exercise and Heart:

If you are physically active, you will increase your life span, regardless of unwanted inherited factors. Physical activity, at any age, protects against a multitude of chronic health problems, including many forms of cardiovascular disease. Exercise protects you by regulating your weight and improving your body's use of insulin. Being active is beneficial for your blood pressure, your blood lipid levels, your blood sugar, the health of your blood vessels and your inflammation, a powerful factor in the promotion of cardiovascular disease. To keep it simple, you can aim for 30 minutes a day, five days a week of moderate exercise. Also pay attention to the time you spend sitting, whether at work or at home. You must reduce this time. The good news is that even a slight increase in your fitness is badociated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular risk, even if you already have an illness.

Diabetes and Heart:

If you develop diabetes, you are at a greater risk of developing heart disease. Again, physical activity can help reduce the risk of developing the disease. This is especially true if your risk of diabetes is high because of genetic factors. If you are diabetic, staying active will better protect your heart. In people with diabetes, it is thought that exercise improves glycemic control, which reduces the negative impact on the vascular heart.

Obesity and Heart:

If you are overweight, you may develop hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. These conditions will expose you to a high risk of cardiovascular disease. Obesity in children is a disturbing trend that requires immediate attention.

The easiest way to detect the ideal body weight is to subtract 100 points from the height in centimeters. You can also calculate the body mbad index or BMI. A BMI between 18.5 and 25 is considered ideal. The metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions that occur together, also increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Abdominal obesity or visceral fat is one of the key features. If you have this problem, you are more likely to have other features such as high triglyceride levels, low HDL ("good cholesterol"), high BAC and / or diabetes.

Hypertension and heart:

Hypertension the blood vessels of the body, forcing them to obstruct or weaken. Hypertension can lead to atherosclerosis and narrowing of the blood vessels, making them more likely to block blood clots or cholesterol. High blood pressure in a person younger than 50 is badociated with increased cardiovascular risk. As you get older, your blood pressure becomes a more important predictor of the risk of cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is today one of the leading risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

Tobacco and the heart:

It has long been known that smoking is linked to heart disease, cancer and a host of other diseases. If you smoke or started smoking young, your risk of cardiovascular disease is much higher than that of someone who started in adulthood. Being subject to pbadive smoke also increases the risk. Smoking damages the endothelium (the lining of blood vessels), increases fatty deposits in the arteries, promotes clotting, increases cholesterol and promotes spasms of the coronary arteries. Nicotine, an addictive component of tobacco, speeds up heart rate and increases blood pressure.

Although smoking causes a lot of damage, quitting smoking effectively reduces cardiovascular risk to that of someone who has never smoked for a long time. time. Therefore, it's never too late to stop smoking!

Diet and Heart:

Diet is one of the key things you can change that will affect all other cardiovascular risk factors. A diet high in saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. A diet high in saturated fats (eg, cheese) and trans fatty acids (often used in cakes, cookies, and fast foods) leads to high cholesterol levels, which can lead to high levels of cholesterol. atherosclerosis. Unsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and essential fatty acids are beneficial for heart health. They are present in fish, nuts, seeds and vegetables. The omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids found in oily fish, nuts and seeds play a crucial role in improving the level of good cholesterol in the body.

It is important to control sodium intake because a diet high in sodium puts you at risk. to develop hypertension. A diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains protects your heart. Alcohol abuse and excessive occasional consumption of alcohol damage heart muscles and increase the risk of heart-related diseases.

Stress and Heart:

Stress has been shown to be a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Indeed, living a stressful life can lead people to adopt bad habits, such as smoking and eating poorly, risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Chronic stress also causes other comorbidities, such as hypertension, hypothyroidism, obesity and depression, all of which can lead to a plethora of heart disease. One way to reduce stress is to practice regular physical activity or to indulge in the hobbies or activities that you enjoy. Make these small changes in your lifestyle to protect your heart!

(Disclaimer: The author is Prof. Dr. Sreenivasa Murthy, Consultant Physician and Senior Diabetologist, Gleneagles Global Hospitals, Bengaluru, The opinions expressed are personal opinions.) [19659028] [ad_2]
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