As you mature, your heart endures many challenges. And you don’t need to make it worse with a sedentary lifestyle. Unfortunately, heart diseases are the number one cause of death worldwide. Heart health should be on your list of things to worry about whether or not heart diseases run in your family. Come, let us find out how to prevent heart disease.
- Know your risk
Use our Check if you’re a healthy adult (40–75 years old) who has never suffered a heart attack or stroke. Change. Control. Calculator to estimate your risk of cardiovascular events in the next ten years. Certain factors such as smoking, kidney disease, or a family history of early heart disease can increase your chances. You and your healthcare team can make an informed decision about your treatment strategy based on your risk factors. Many risk factors can be improved with lifestyle changes.
- Be physically active
Move more – it’s one of the best ways to stay healthy, prevent disease, and age well. Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week. You can increase your intensity for even more benefits if you’re already active. If you’re inactive now, start by simply sitting less and moving more.
- Live tobacco-free
Never start if you don’t smoke, vape, or use tobacco products. There’s no such thing as a safe tobacco product. If quitting smoking or tobacco is challenging, ask your team for help to kick the habit using proven methods. Don’t merely switch out the tobacco supply. And try to avoid secondhand smoke, too!
- Take your medicine
If you have a health condition, your doctor may prescribe statins or other medications to help control cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. Take all medications as directed. However, unless your doctor specifically orders it, you should not use aspirin for prevention purposes. If you’ve never had a heart attack or stroke, daily aspirin may not help you and could cause problems, including the risk of bleeding. In order to lower the chance of another heart attack or stroke, your doctor may recommend taking a low dose of aspirin.
- Eat a healthy diet
Center you’re eating plan around vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, plant-based proteins, lean animal proteins, and fish. Make intelligent choices like limiting refined carbohydrates, processed meats, and sweetened drinks. Use the nutrition facts label on packaged foods to reduce sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats, and avoid trans-fat.
- Be a team player
Your healthcare team can help you reduce your risk of heart disease or stroke to live a longer, healthier life. Work together on your prevention plan. If you’re having trouble making healthy adjustments, don’t be afraid to ask questions and talk about it openly. Many factors can influence one’s physical and mental health, including but not limited to: amount of sleep, mental health, family dynamics, cigarette usage, availability of food, and social support.
We hope this information was helpful, do let us know what you do to prevent heart disease.
