Is Heart Disease Preventable?
Heart disease is currently the nations # 1 killer of men and women, while cancer is climbing and surpass these statistics in the near future. In most cases, heart disease is preventable, but there are also genetic factors may be considered. Other diseases such as diabetes, causes a person to the devastating effects of heart disease.
I have a registered nurse for 30 years and worked in the areas of cardiac care and intensive care most of my career. As such, I have cared for those who sometimes fatal consequences of heart disease, heart attacks. A heart attack occurs when a portion of the heart muscle dies. If any part of the heart dies, it can not, because the damage has already happened. Prevention is the key and is the basis of this article. Some heart attacks are worse than others. I'll take this topic in future articles.
The best way to prevent heart disease occurs primarily multiple lifestyle changes. Smoking, obesity and high cholesterol are just some factors which may be amended. Other predisposing factors include diabetes, hypertension, and renal disease may be genetic and more difficult to heal, but it can. Yearly check-ups with your doctor is the first step in the prevention of the disease. Healthy daily exercise and diet changes significantly reduce the changes for the development of cardiovascular disease.
What is heart disease?
heart disease occurs when the arteries around the heart develop plaque. This plaque hardens and narrows the passage of proper blood flow to the heart. When blood flow is significantly reduced or completely stopped, a portion of the heart muscle dies. Nothing can rejuvenate the dead tissue, because the damage has already happened.
Dietary changes
If you think of diets, most people do so only temporarily. But with heart disease, it is a life change. Always consult your doctor before drastic changes in diet. A diet consisting of low in sodium, low fat, low cholesterol. Be sure you have labels in the grocery stores. Stay away from processed foods and canned goods, because they are usually very high in sodium. Do not add extra salt to your meals. Remember, if salt goes, so goes the water. Eating foods high in sodium causes water retention, swelling in your ankles, shortness of breath, high blood pressure and the heart work harder than normal.
Lab work
Your doctor will order some necessary exercise for the early detection of heart disease. These tests are cholesterol, HDL, LDL, lipid and triglyceride levels. HDL cholesterol is good and the bad LDL cholesterol. The high-density lipoprotein or HDL is considered good because it moves more easily into the vessel wall, whereas low-density lipoprotein or LDL is bad because it is more likely to depend on the vascular wall plaque to build up. The laboratory tests will require that you fast for a period of at least 12-15 hours. Do not eat a high cholesterol meal before your test, because this change will make the results and may cause some false positives. If your cholesterol is normal and triglycerides are high, this usually means that it is hereditary. Triglycerides are your sweet tooth, so that eating them made pies, cakes and pastries. Your cholesterol is fatty meat and eggs. Try to make your egg consumption is not more than 3 per week. Egg beaters are a good substitute and contain no cholesterol.
The prevention of heart disease is crucial for maintaining a healthy heart. Small changes can go a long way in reducing the risk of a heart attack. It is also important to remember once that damage to the heart was carried out, nothing to correct. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Danette Braunstein is a Registered Nurse with 30 years experience in caring for those with heart disease. She has written many informational articles relating to health issues
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