Saturday, June 25, 2011

How to prevent Heart Problems?

Some of the risks for heart disease that you CAN change or prevent are:

  • Not smoking. If you do smoke, quit.
  • Controlling your cholesterol through diet, exercise, and medicines, if needed.
  • Controlling high blood pressure through diet, exercise, and medicines, if needed.
  • Controlling diabetes through diet, exercise, and medicines, if needed.
  • Exercising at least 30 minutes a day
  • Keeping to a healthy weight by eating healthy foods, eating less, and joining a weight loss program, if you need to lose weight
  • Learning healthy ways to cope with stress through special classes or programs, or things like meditation or yoga
  • Limiting how much alcohol you drink to 1 drink a day for women and 2 a day for men

Good nutrition is important to your heart health and will help control some of your risk factors.

  • Choose a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
  • Choose lean proteins, such as chicken, fish, beans and legumes.
  • Choose low-fat dairy products, such as 1% milk and other low-fat items.
  • Avoid sodium (salt) and fats found in fried foods, processed foods, and baked goods.
  • Eat fewer animal products that contain cheese, cream, or eggs.
  • Read labels, and stay away from "saturated fat" and anything that contains "partially-hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated" fats. These products are usually loaded with unhealthy fat
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Hypertension

Hypertension is the term used to describe high blood pressure.

Blood pressure is a measurement of the force against the walls of your arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body.

Blood pressure readings are measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and usually given as two numbers -- for example, 120 over 80 (written as 120/80 mmHg). One or both of these numbers can be too high.

The top number is your systolic pressure.

  • It is considered high if it is over 140 most of the time.
  • It is considered normal if it is below 120 most of the time.

The bottom number is your diastolic pressure.

  • It is considered high if it is over 90 most of the time.
  • It is considered normal if it is below 80 most of the time.
  • Pre-hypertension may be considered when your:

  • Top number (systolic blood pressure) is between 120 and 139 most of the time, or
  • Bottom number (diastolic blood pressure) is between 80 and 89 most of the time

If you have pre-hypertension, you are more likely to develop high blood pressure.

If you have heart or kidney problems, or if you had a stroke, your doctor may want your blood pressure to be even lower than that of people who do not have these conditions.

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