Heart diseases are relatively common in the US. Unfortunately, there are no known ways to cure heart diseases aside from organ transplants. This is why preventive measures are considered to be best when treating heart diseases.
Many Americans die of heart disease in the US. It is the leading cause of death of many individuals, and it’s estimated that an American dies of heart disease every 36 seconds. The projected estimate of deaths due to heart disease is around 655,000 annually.
There is no known cure for many heart diseases. Medicines have been known to only treat symptoms of it. Some medications are known only to prevent it or hold it at bay. Organ transplants have been known to treat heart disease, but its subjected to a lot of failures, not to mention very costly. Experts believe that the only way a person can survive heart disease is to prevent it from happening in the first place. But how does one avoid one of the most common multifactorial genetic disorders? Through lifestyle changes.
This article will delve into the simple lifestyle changes you can make to help you avoid heart diseases. This is crucial for people known to have heart diseases running in their family as most heart diseases can be inherited, but by living a healthy life, you can prevent it from happening. The first step is to get your heart a checkup.
Get a Checkup
Checkups are significant if you’re planning to make some changes in how you live your life. It will determine what you can do in your current state. For example, one crucial check-up for preventing heart disease is a myocardial perfusion scan.
Myocardial perfusion scans or heart scans are done to determine whether if your heart is experiencing any problems. When getting your myocardial perfusion scan, make sure the clinic uses a Medrad CTP-200-FLS Equivalent Syringe on their radiology device. You can know by asking your radiologist or checking the treatment plan.
This particular syringe is the standard for all sorts of radiology scans, especially for heart and muscle scans. If your radiologist utilizes this kind of syringe, there is also a good chance that the test will print out accurate results about how your heart is performing and where you can do better with your lifestyle.
Now that you had your heart checked, it’s time to make lifestyle changes that can help you avoid heart problems in the future.
Stop Any Vices Such as Drinking and Smoking
Drinking alcohol and smoking are known to be the main reasons why so many Americans develop heart problems. Stopping this kind of vices should be your first step in preventing heart problems. If you’re having trouble stopping it, consider visiting a counselor or psychologist. They can help develop a treatment plan for you that can help you stop.
Have a Healthy Weight
You don’t necessarily have to be fit if you want to avoid heart diseases. This means that you don’t have to exercise every day either. The goal is to have a healthy weight or be in the normal when it comes to your Body Mass Index (BMI). A healthy BMI is unique to every person. Find out yours by visiting the NHI’s BMI calculator here. If you are considered overweight or obese, you’ll have to reduce your weight, or else you’ll be at risk of heart disease.
Reduce Fats in Your Food
You don’t have to necessarily remove fats from your food, but rather reduce your usual consumption of it. If your heart scan has shown that your heart is healthy, you still have to change this lifestyle.
The main fats you should reduce are trans fat and saturated fats. You should also reduce your overall cholesterol levels. These can all be found in pork and beef. Although they are still essential to your diet, you should limit your consumption of them every day.
If you want to have a good diet going, consider visiting a nutritionist. They can create a diet plan for you to follow to achieve your ideal weight in the future.
Be as Physically Active as You Can
Ten minutes of exercise is better than no exercise at all. Be consistent with your exercise. Try to do it every day at the same time. By doing this, you can greatly reduce your chance of heart problems. Moving for five minutes every hour can also make a difference in how your heart functions every day. So try to do these things as much as possible.
Our heart is one of the most important organs in our body, and it is up to us, not our doctors, to keep it healthy. By following these lifestyle changes, you can drastically reduce your chance of heart disease, even if it runs in your family.