Heart Health - How Do You Keep Heart Healthy

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.