Heart disease is a general term for a number of different diseases, all of which influence the heart in some way. Heart disease is in fact considered as being the leading reason of death nowadays in the United States. Heart disease indeed possesses serious threat to many people. Therefore, it is important to understand the methods to prevent and treat heart disease.
Prevention methods
There is reason to be hopeful because according to experts, heart disease prevention is promising. Even though some risk factors including sex, genetics, and age of a person are not within our control, one can still make an alteration in lifestyle and also change diet so that the odds of heart disease are significantly reduced.
There are also other methods by which heart disease prevention can be achieved. According to what the American Heart Association proposes, one must control obesity even in children and also make a determined attempt to take proper diet that contains enough nutrition. One of the better nutritional supplements you may want to try for heart disease prevention is mangosteen puree that is rich in antioxidants which aid in destroying free radicals that are the reason behind damage to cells and which in turn will result in heart disease.
Good heart disease prevention may also mean controlling the blood pressure and having LDL cholesterol at low levels. The best way to attain these goals is by making appropriate changes to diet and even by taking medications if so recommended by the doctor. Clearly, having low blood sugar levels will consider as heart disease prevention.
Another alternative is to exercise because it is a well known fact that regular exercise can reduce the risks of heart disease. Experts have a tendency to recommend as much exercise as humanly possible at least an hour per day. For many people, this seems like a never-ending task but the truth is this amount of exercise can be attained in ways other than going to the gym. Basically changing some habits, such as walking to work, can make people healthier. Walking is perhaps the easiest, cheapest, and healthiest type of exercise for most people and therefore should be taken advantage of.
The best heart disease prevention may not be a solitary course of action; rather, one may decide to have many strategies combined into one that will prove to be more effective. You can select approaches such as changes in diet, together with reducing excess weight and also maintaining blood sugar levels as well as taking nutritional supplements that are suggested by health experts.
Treatment options for heart disease
If you have heart disease then you will have to have some types of heart disease treatment in order to solve your problem. There are various heart disease treatment options that are available nowadays. The first treatment is of course prevention as explained previously.
However, if your heart disease is serious, than most probably you will also have to use more serious techniques of heart disease treatment. This includes medical treatment, which will usually be started straight away, even before an exact diagnosis of a heart problem is made.
This medical treatment may comprise of oxygen from a tube in the nose, oxygen through a face mask, nitroglycerin under the tongue, pain medicines, and aspirin. There are also clot dissolving medications which are often given, and the earlier these drugs are given, the higher the chances of opening the blocked artery and defending the cardiac muscle from further injury.
Cellular therapy, for example, is considered as being a potential treatment for heart disease. This is due to cellular products have been revealed to hold great potential for the treating of injured and diseased tissues in the body. They come from many sources, such as stem cells from bone marrow, peripheral blood, and myoblasts from skeletal muscle cells. The research so far has shown that this cellular therapy offers amazingly positive results, and so with additional research and more advancement, in the future this just may be known as the cure for heart disease.
Surgery can be executed on those who experience heart disease at any age although other methods are preferable. Surgery is necessary for those who do not react to their medications or whose condition worsens radically. In some situations, surgery is the only method to amend the problem and give the patient a probability of good health. In uncommon cases, repeat surgery is needed afterward to rid the body of excess fluids that have developed in the chest.
Heart surgery can be wearing and the healing period can be slow so it is no surprise to find out that a huge number of people who suffer from heart disease which needs surgery are interested in less invasive surgery. Less invasive surgery for heart disease can involve smaller incisions, less pain, and a much faster healing period. Not only does this type of surgery involve shorter hospital stays, it can also reduce the risks of complications to the patient during and after the operation.
There are many resources that are available if you want more information on the treatment of heart disease. The most significant thing of all is to keep a healthy lifestyle, a healthy and nutritious diet, and plenty of exercise. By keeping a healthy lifestyle you will not only be guarding yourself against heart disease but as well against all illnesses and health conditions in general.
Let's face it, cardiovascular disease, or heart disease, is the number 1 killer in America. Men have a greater tendency to develop heart-related diseases, but each year, more and more women are experiencing this condition.
For the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, several natural substances have been studied and found to be effective. Before you start on any natural form of treatment, though, make sure you first consult with your physician and obtain approval and constant supervision.
Natural Ways to prevent heart disease
Vitamin C improves the dilation of blood vessels in atherosclerotic patients and those affected by congestive heart failure and high blood pressure.
Vitamin B Complex breaks down homocysteine for improved heart performance.
CoQ10, when taken in combination with Vitamin E, has been found to help treat heart disease.
Fish oils have been found to reduce the risk of arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, and heart palpitations.
Why Omega-3 fatty acids are so popular?
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils and mussels have earned the nod of hundreds of health professionals in recent years because of their role in the management and prevention of heart diseases.
Since the 1970s, there has been significant interest in the role of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) due to the convincing results of several lab studies. One such study was made by Dyerberg and Bang on Greenland Eskimos. They found that these people had a lower incidence of death resulting from coronary heart disease, as compared to the Danes who lived on a "western" diet.
This, despite the fact that their diet was rich in fat (seal fat, mainly). After studying the results, they concluded that it was mainly the Eskimos' diet, which was rich in Omega-3 PUFAs, that caused reduced thrombosis tendencies and increased vessel dilation.
How to prevent heart disease? What are things the we can do to prevent cardiovascular diseases?
High cholesterol in the blood is one of the major risk factor for heart disease. The first thing that we can do is to treat and prevent high cholesterol by eating a diet which is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber, keeping a healthy weight and exercising regularly. Consulting doctors about your cholesterol levels is very important, so that if your cholesterol level is high the doctor can prescribed the best medicine to lower it.
To keep a normal blood pressure it is important to do lifestyle actions such as healthy diet, regular physical activity, cessation of smoking, and healthy weight. Diabetes can cause heart disease that's why it is very important to prevent and control it. It can happen through weight loss and regular physical activities.
Cessation of smoking is a very big help to prevent heart diseases. Cigarettes can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, and stroke. Never smoking is one of the best things that a person can do to lower their risk. Moderation in drinking alcohol can help to decrease the risk in high blood pressure. Maintaining a healthy weight is very important, it can be assessed using the weight and height this is what we called " body mas index" (BMI). The BMI usually indicated the amount of fats in our body. An adult with BMI of 30 or more is considered to be obese. Between 25 and 29.5 is called overweight. And the normal weight will be 18 to 24.9. proper diet and regular activity can help to maintain a healthy weight.
Here are the summary of the things that we can do to prevent heart diseases:
- Don't smoke
- This is the number one way to prevent heart disease. This means that you should quit smoking as soon as possible if you already smoke, and if you live with a smoker, you should put limits on the smoker so he or she needs to smoke outside; it is crucial that you not inhale second hand smoke. If you haven't started smoking, be sure never to start this habit.
- Get moving
- It's best if you can get in the 30 minutes a day of moderately vigorous exercise recommended by the government, but even a daily walk can help prevent heart disease. Find a form of exercise you enjoy enough to want to do it regularly and stick with it. If you've never been active in the past, enlist a friend or family member to introduce you to different types of exercise.
- Eat healthy foods
- Make sure you follow a heart prevention diet, even if you don't have any symptoms of heart disease. The key is to prevent the disease before it starts. This can be accomplished by eating a high-fiber, low fat diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Meats should be lean, and fats should be limited to heart healthy fats such as olive oil. Sugars and processed foods should be limited; and fresh, whole fruits and vegetables should make up a large portion of your daily meals.
- Manage your weight
- It's not enough to eat a lot of healthy foods if you're still overweight. Obesity is a predictor of heart disease, so make sure you limit your calories such that you are staying within a healthy body mass index (BMI)
- Consult your doctor
- Your annual physical examination is more valuable than you think; it enables a medical doctor to watch for the signs of heart disease for you. Make sure you mention any potential signs of heart disease to your doctor, and be sure not to skip appointments.
Learning how to prevent heart disease is very important to avoid also the possible complications that might occur if the preventions will not be done. It is better to do early prevention rather that developing more serious compilations.
The Causes of Coronary Heart Disease may mean an early death for both men and women, but that does not mean you have to accept as their destiny. Despite that lack the power to change some risk factors - such as family history or age - there are some basic steps to prevent coronary heart disease can take. Knowing how to prevent heart failure is very important. Here are the list of steps that can help us to prevent this condition:
1. Do not smoke or use snuff products
Smoking or using snuff products is one of the most important risk factors for developing CHD. When it comes to preventing disease, no amount of smoking is safe. The snuff smokeless, low-tar and low nicotine cigarettes are also at risk, as is exposure to secondhand smoke.
Snuff smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals. Many of these can damage the heart and blood vessels, making them more vulnerable to the narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Atherosclerosis can lead to a heart attack.
In addition, nicotine in cigarette smoke makes your heart work harder by narrowed blood vessels and increased heart rate and blood pressure. Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke replaces some of the oxygen in the blood. This increases blood pressure by forcing your heart to work harder to supply enough oxygen. Even so-called "social smokers" - only smoking while at a bar or restaurant with friends - is dangerous and is one of the main causes of coronary heart disease.
Women who smoke and take birth control pills are at greater risk of heart attack or stroke than are those who do not do well. Worse, this risk increases with age, especially over 35 years.
The good news, however, is that when you stop smoking, your risk of heart disease drops dramatically within just one year. And no matter how long or how much you smoked, you begin to reap significant benefits in terms of quitting.
2. Stay active
Regularly participate in moderate physical activity can reduce their risk of fatal CHD. And when you combine physical activity with lifestyle measures, such as maintaining a healthy weight, the reward is even greater.
Physical activity helps control weight and may reduce your chances of developing other conditions that may put pressure on your heart, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. It also reduces stress, which can also be a factor in this disease.
The guidelines recommend that at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderate intensity most days of the week. However, even shorter amounts of exercise offers benefits for the heart, so if you can not meet these guidelines, do not give up. You can even divide your training time in 10 minute sessions and still get the same benefits.
And remember that things like gardening, cleaning, climbing stairs and walking the dog all count toward the total. You do not have to exercise vigorously to achieve profits, but you can see greater benefits by increasing the intensity, duration and frequency of your workouts.
3. Eat a heart healthy diet
Eating a special diet called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan can also help protect your heart. Following the DASH diet means eating foods that are low in fat, cholesterol and salt. The diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low fat dairy products can help protect your heart. Legumes, low fat sources of protein and certain types of fish can also reduce your risk of heart disease.
The limitation of certain fats you eat is also important. Of the types of fat - saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fats - saturated fats and trans fats increase the risk of coronary artery disease by raising levels of cholesterol in the blood. The main sources of saturated fat include beef, butter, cheese, milk and coconut oil and palm oil. There is increasing evidence that trans fats may be worse than saturated fat because unlike saturated fat, which increases its low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol and decreases high density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol. Sources of trans fats include fried foods, some fast, bakery products, packaged snack foods, biscuits and margarine. Check the label of "partially hydrogenated" to avoid trans fats.
Heart-healthy eating is not about cuts, however. Most people, for example, the need to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet - with a goal of five to 10 servings a day. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables that not only can help prevent heart disease, but also may help prevent cancer. That is one of the best answer in the question how to prevent heart disease.
Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat, may decrease your risk of heart attack, protect against irregular heartbeats and blood pressure. Some fish are a good natural source of omega-3 fatty acids. However, pregnant women and women of childbearing age should avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tile fish because they contain mercury levels high enough to pose a hazard to the developing fetus. But for most of the others, the health benefits of fish outweigh the risks associated with mercury. Omega-3s are present in small amounts in flax seed oil, walnut oil, soybean oil and canola oil, and can also be found in supplements.
Following a heart-healthy diet also means drinking alcohol in moderation - no more than two drinks per day for men, one a day for women. In this moderate level of alcohol can have a protective effect on your heart. On top of that, it becomes a health hazard. Learning what the causes of coronary heart disease are and how to prevent them is one way of stopping the high incidence of death because of this condition.