Is your Heart Healthy?
February is Heart Health Month. There are many contributing factors that cause heart disease and heart attacks. Do you know if you are at risk?
If you answer yes to 3 or more of these questions, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor immediately.
- Do you smoke?
- Do you have high blood pressure?
- Do you have high cholesterol?
- Do you have diabetes?
- Are you overweight?
These are all possible risk factors of heart disease and heart attack. If you answered no to these questions, then you are off to a good start. However maintaining a healthy heart is important.
Here are some tips to follow when ensuring a healthy heart.
- Avoid smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco.
- High blood pressure is one of the largest risk factors. Limit your salt intake and be sure to exercise regularly.
- Keep your cholesterol low. To lower your cholesterol, reduce the saturated and transfats in your diet.
- Control your blood sugar with dieting and exercise.
- Exercise on a regular basis. Start out slowly. Even just 10 minutes a day of exercise is helpful.
- Control your stress with meditation, or exercise. Stress is another leading factor in heart disease.
How do you plan to take care of your heart? For more information on heart health and heart health awareness visit http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/