Heart Disease: Tips for Prevention

The number one killer in America today is a disease that can often be prevented.

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the nation’s single leading cause of death for both men and women. At least 58.8 million people in this country suffer from some form of heart disease.

The good news is that measures can be taken to prevent heart disease. Studies show that nearly everyone can become more heart healthy by following a few key steps, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising, quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy body weight.

What is Heart Disease?

Heart disease is any disorder that affects the heart’s ability to function normally. The most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease which is the narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries.

Risk Factors

There are many heart disease risk factors that can be controlled. By making changes in your lifestyle, you can actually reduce your risk for heart disease. Controllable risk factors include:

• Smoking
• High LDL, or "bad" cholesterol and low HDL, or "good" cholesterol
• Uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Physical inactivity
• Obesity (more than 20% over one's ideal body weight)
• Uncontrolled diabetes
• High C-reactive protein
• Uncontrolled stress and anger

General Prevention Tips

One of the keys to preventing heart disease is getting risk factors under control:

• Eat a heart-healthy diet
• Improve cholesterol levels
• Exercise
• Control diabetes
• Control high blood pressure
• Control weight
• Manage stress
• Quit Smoking