The Heart Manual

Are you physically inactive?
Your heart may already be at risk!

Certain traits and lifestyle habits can cause harm to that all-important organ.
The good news is that these risk factors, as they are called, can be controlled or treated.

Get to know some of them and how you can prevent it from doing damage.

1. High Blood Pressure

Having high blood pressure causes the heart to pump and work harder than it normally should. It being a muscle, the heart may become enlarged and weak over time, thus becoming more prone to injury. High blood pressure, or hypertension, increases the probability of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, eye damage, congestive heart failure and atherosclerosis. People with hypertension should watch their weight, avoid smoking and watch their cholesterol levels, because high blood pressure that exists with the things mentioned above increases the risk of heart attack even more.

2. Smoking

Smokers are twice at risk of having a heart attack than that of non-smokers. Need another reason to drop the habit? Consider this: smokers who have a heart attack are more likely to die and die suddenly (i.e. within an hour) than are people who don’t touch cigarettes.

3. High Blood Cholesterol

You’ve heard how increased levels of bad cholesterol can harm your body. Even worse is that high cholesterol has no symptoms, that’s why a lot of people have it without even knowing it. The risk of coronary heart disease rises as blood cholesterol levels increase, and rises further when other risk factors are present (such as hypertension and smoking). It is therefore important to have yourself checked regularly for cholesterol levels so you can take appropriate measures to lower them if you have to.

4. Physical Inactivity

One can be at risk for heart disease by not doing anything. An inactive lifestyle is another risk factor that can lead to coronary heart disease. Combine this with overeating, and excess weight, higher blood cholesterol levels and diabetes are not far off. Therefore, a regular exercise regimen is recommended to help control blood cholesterol, diabetes and obesity. It may also help lower blood pressure in some individuals.

5. Obesity

People who have excess body fat are also likely candidates for health problems that include high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, high triglycerides, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. More bad news: even without the presence of other risk factors, people with excess body fat are at higher risk of heart disease.

DID YOU KNOW…

You CAN quit smoking now! Many programs have been effectively devised to help you quit smoking. As soon as you stop smoking, your chances for heart disease also begin to drop. Eventually, your risk level will be about the same as if you’d never lit up a stick in your life.

Learn more about what makes the heart tick.
Watch out for more tips and info in the next issues.