How+do+we+Maintain+a+Healthy+Heart

 How to Maintain a Healthy Heart  The three main triggers of heart disease are smoking, lack of exercise, and a poor diet.

__Smoking__: Smoking tobacco can cause damage to the heart. The chemicals in the smoke cause inflation in the arteries, alter lipids, making more LDL and less HDL, and speed up the progression of atherosclerosis. Specifically, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other toxins found in cigarettes flow through the blood, damaging blood vessel walls, causing the formation of blood clots, and decreasing the ability of blood to transport oxygen. All of these could later develop into bigger problems for the heart. Smoking can double or triple one's risk towards heart attack, and may make one up to ten times more likely to develop peripheral vascular disease. In fact about 20% of all deaths from heart disease in the U.S. are linked to smoking. **Stop smoking,** and you will save your heart from future damage. It is true that no matter how long you have smoked, if you quit, you can reduce the risk of heart disease steadily. "Fifteen years after quitting, your risk of death from heart disease is almost the same as if you had never smoked" (Risk Factors). Here is a website on how much smoking actually increases heart disease, and how to stop smoking. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/smoking-heart-disease

__Healthy Diet:__ Foods that contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids benefit the heart, while foods containg high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids destroy the heart. Walnuts, cold-water fish, and olive oil are examples that have omega-3 fatty acids, while corn oil, sunflower oil, and safflower oils are examples of omega-6 fatty acids. Foods that are whole grains, such as eggplant, vegatables, tomatoes, etc. are also very good for the heart. Avoiding cholesterol from saturated fats is a good idea because these forms of cholesterol can clog up the arteries in large amounts, which may cut off the blood supply to the heart. This result is known as a heart attack. Foods that have these forms of cholesterol would be products such as butter, lard, meat, cakes, biscuits, pies, and chips. To combat these forms of cholesterol one could take the chemical known as antioxidants. Vitamin A, C, and E contain antioxins, and these are in foods such as fruits, vegatables, unsaturated fats, and fish oils. Vitamin B-6, folic acid, helps break down homocysteines, which are an amino acid that increases the risk of heart disease. Having a **healthy diet** rich in these foods can lower one's risk of heart attack by 30%. When a healthy diet is not followed, one's risk towards heart attack greatly increases. It is also important to keep your salt intake at a reasonable level because if you have too much salt it could increase your blood pressure. Having high blood pressure can lead to many problems with your cardiovascular system so you should try to make sure that it is under 120/80 mmHg. People must watch their intake of sugar closely. If a person takes in enough sugar to develop diabetes, it quadrouples the risk of heart attack for women and doubles it for men. In addition, these sugary foods, often coupled with unhealthy saturated and trans fats, can help people pack on fat. This is particularly dangerous when the fat accumulates on the abdominal region. Abdominal obesity more than doubles one's risk of heart attack. People with abdominal obesity often also suffer from hypertension, which can triple one's risk, and unhealthy balances of bad LDL cholesterols and good HDL cholesterols can quadrouple one's risk. To ensure a happy and healthy heart, these conditions must be avoided. Here is a website on how to maintain a healthy heart dealing with diet. http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=27914

__Exercise:__ Obesity is linked to heart problems, therefore burning off the excess fat, especailly around the abdomen, is good for you. Running, biking, swimming, or even walking is a great form of exercise. If you go to a fitness center use a heart rate monitor to make sure you don't overdue it. Lack of exercise can increase one's risk of heart failure by 20%. **Exercising** is also important because it can help to keep your heart healthy by **lowering your blood pressure and cholesterol**. Your cholesterol should be kept under 200 mg/dL so to stay healthy you should try to exercise at least 30 minutes daily. The exercises you do should leave you a little breathless and then leave time between and after exercises to rest. It is during recovery that our muscles become stronger than before the exercise session. If the body is not allowed time to recover, and consume the proper nutrients needed then the muscles do not rebuild, and can even begin to break down. Therefore it is important you give your heart a good exercise, but make sure you give your heart time to rest, and do not overdue it or more harm could come to your heart. http://www.medicinenet.com/fitness_exercise_for_a_healthy_heart/article.htm

__Relax:__ Stress also contributes to increasing the risk of heart disease. Physiologically, stress stimulates the release of a chemical called adrenaline, which narrows arteries. If adrenaline is repeatedly released due to a lot of stress in one’s life, long-term damage to the arteries may occur. Because adrenaline narrows the arteries, the heart has to work harder to pump the same amount of blood throughout the body; thus, if the arteries are too often narrowed because of the release of adrenaline, then the heart will too often work harder than it’s supposed to. So RELAX! The following are some tips for handling stress in your life. Relaxation methods can aid in maintaining a relatively stress-free life, leading to a healthier heart and a reduced risk of heart disease! [|Relaxation Methods]

__Educate yourself:__ Being educated about the health of your heart and the risks is very important in maintaining a healthy heart. When you are educated you are more likely to pay attention to the health of your heart. If you know the risks of not exercising and eating a poor diet then hopefully you will care enough about your body and heart to take care of yourself. It is also helpful if you know what your blood pressure and cholesterol levels are. When you get a blood test you should ask your doctor many questions so that you can better understand your health.[|How much do you really know about a healthy heart? Test yourself!]

(Angiogram of a healthy heart)

In addition, to keep your heart healthy you should go to the doctor to monitor your heart and make sure that it is healthy. Making sure that you get check ups on a regular basis to check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels can make all the difference.

Picture of a human heart.

__Be Aware of Your Genes__. However, even if one takes care of themselves very well, they are still susceptible to heart disease. These actions make up the behavioral causes of heart disease, which accounts for only half of the risk factors. The other half is genetic. Even if a person has never smoked, eats a healthy diet, and exercises often, if they have a genetic predisposition to heart disease, they are still at risk. To try to avoid the possible effects of this, people can get screened for possible genetic red flags. Although scientists have not yet discovered all the genetic risks that are posed, some, like high levels of C - reactive protein, are known. If people know what predispositions they have, they can altar their behavior to further lower their risk. For example, genetically high levels of C – reactive proteins can cause inflammation of blood vessels, narrowing the lumen much like atherosclerosis. If someone knew they had this trait, they could perhaps be on anti-inflammatory drugs to prevent the C – reactive protein’s detrimental effects.

Also, a recent study has shown that even people with normal cholesterol can benifit from taking cholesterol lowering statins. In the study, normal/low cholesterol patients on statins were 54% less likely to suffer heart attacks and 48% less likely to suffer strokes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K_UtI25eYo