Heart Health
- Heart Health Women
The health of your heart is one of
the most important indicators of your overall level of
health. In fact, nothing is more important in terms of
living a long and healthy life than having a healthy
heart.
The sad reality is, however,
that most Americans do not take care of their heart
health. In fact, the National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control reports that heart disease was
the leading cause of death in the United States in 2004.
In fact, heart disease accounted for over 27% of all
deaths. This number rises to 30% if you look just at
deaths of people over the age of 65. It is obvious from
these numbers that people are not taking their heart
health seriously enough.
What is heart disease?
To understand what heart disease is, it is important to
first understand exactly what your heart does. Your
heart is actually just a muscle, and like any other
muscle it depends on receiving oxygen and nutrients from
a steady supply of blood.
The most common type of heart disease is coronary artery
disease. With coronary artery disease, plaque (fatty
materials, calcium and scar tissue) builds up in the
arteries that bring the blood to your heart. Eventually,
the plaque buildup gets to the point where it can
drastically limit the amount of blood that reaches your
heart. Not surprisingly, this can have severe
consequences, ranging from angina (chest pain) to a
heart attack. Plaque buildup can also lead to another
common problem, congestive heart failure. If you have
congestive heart failure, your heart does not pump
strongly enough. As a consequence, your body does not
get the blood and oxygen it needs to work properly. This
leaves you easily out of breath, limiting your physical
activity, which only makes the situation worse.
How can you prevent
heart disease?
While the specter of heart disease may seem daunting, it
should not be something you are afraid of. The fact is
that heart disease is preventable and manageable. The
medical profession is well aware of the factors that
constitute a heart health risk. To be fair, some of the
risk factors are unavoidable. The older you are, the
more at risk you will be. And men are far more at risk
than pre-menopausal women. You are also more likely to
develop heart disease if you have already experienced a
stroke or heart attack, or if close family members have
had strokes or heart attacks. A number of factors,
however, are entirely within your control.
The most common risk factors that can lead to heart
disease are high cholesterol, high blood pressure,
stress, smoking, diabetes, alcohol consumption, lack of
physical activity and being overweight. So what can you
do to help avoid developing heart disease? You can give
up smoking and limit your drinking. You can become
physically active, start eating better (with a low fat
diet), and maintain a healthy weight. See your doctor
for a checkup and work with him or her on developing a
plan to maintain your heart health today.
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