In the United States, heart disease is one of the biggest reasons for death in both men and women. Around 37% Americans, both women and men, have at least 2 or more factors that are responsible for heart disease. In fact, there are tons of ways dealing with the question how to prevent cardiovascular disease or at least keep the issues from becoming worse even if they are born with heart issues.
How to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease
1. Quit Smoking
Smoking or using tobacco in general can start to affect the arteries making them become smaller and harder to pump blood through the body. In addition, the extra carbon monoxide that smoking puts into the blood can increase blood pressure and the chances of heart attacks. Even those who only smoke on occasion or those who are coming into contact with second hand smoke are at an increased risk of having cardiovascular disease. Those who stop smoking will find that they lower their chances of cardiovascular disease to that of a non-smoker in 5 years. So quit smoking is the primary answer to how to prevent cardiovascular disease.
2. Exercise Regularly
Exercise can help in reducing your chances of a heart attack, as this helps to keep other issues that could cause a heart attack at bay such as high blood pressure and stress. The goal is to exerciseat least 30 minutes every day. However, those who are active during the day can count as some sort of exercise. The whole idea is to get out and move around.That whether the 30 minutes is done at a time or broken down doesn't matter and depends on individual person.
3. Have a Healthy Diet
Eating healthy is essential, when trying to decrease your chances of cardiovascular disease. Most people need to eat more fruits and vegetables and limit the trans-fat and saturated fats in their diets in order to see results. The problem is that most people do not eat enough amount of fruits and vegetables, which is at 5 to 10 serving per day, and this does increase the chances of having a heart attack.
4. Keep a Proper Weight
When it comes to the weight of a person, they need to consider their body mass index. This takes into consideration their weight and height together to see just how much body mass they have. The higher the body mass, the more likely the person is going to have issues later down the road. Losing just a small amount of weight, even a few inches around the waist can help decrease your chances of cardiovascular disease. This can be achieved through proper exercise and diet and if needed talking with a doctor about your options of losing weight.
5. Sleep Well
People without enough sleep are at a higher risk of overweight, high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes and depression. It is recommended that most adults get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep in order to feel rested. However, you can tell if you are getting enough sleep by how you feel when you wake up in the morning. Those who are getting enough sleep wake up ready to take on the morning and have energy throughout the day without yawning and feeling exhausted, while those who are not sleeping enough often hit the snooze button on their alarm a few times in the morning.
6. Do Regular Health Screenings
Regular screenings of your blood pressure, you sugar levels and cholesterol levels can help forewarn you if there could be a potential cardiovascular problem later down the line. It is important to have these numbers checked frequently to ensure that there are no issues. Most medical personnel recommend having these checked yearly and then more times per year if these numbers are not where they should be.
7. Deal With Related Health Problems
There are several health problems that have been related to cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. If you have any of these health problems, it is important to get them under control in order to lower the chances of heart disease later in life. This is a very important step in solving how to prevent cardiovascular disease.
8. Take Some Medications
One medication that many people take when they are at an increased risk of cardiovascular issues is aspirin. You will have to ask your doctor whether an aspirin a day could help with any cardiovascular issues.In addition, there are also medications such asACE inhibitors, a blood pressure tablets that help to treat this issue. Statins can help lower blood cholesterol. When all these medications are used, it can help to lower the chances of heart disease, as it can help to get the risks factors under control.
9. Manage Your Stress
Stress is a leading reason for cardiovascular issues. Thus, it is important for a person to get their stress under control. Instead of bottling up feelings and emotions, a person should express these freely and utilize some stress reducing actions such as exercise, yoga or meditation. Practicing these daily can help handle stress better.
10. Drink Less
Those who drink should be sure that they are following the guidelines set forth by their doctors. In most cases, men should be drinking no more than 21 units of alcohol per week, while women should be drinking no more than 14 units per week. A unit is around 25ml of alcohol.
11. Know Your Family History
Look at your immediate family for anyone with heart issues. Those with immediate family members like parents who have had a heart attack before55 years old will find that their chance of heart attack increases. Though you cannot control your family history, this can give you a heads up.