The best time to think about heart disease is before it presents. If you have a family history including heart disease in older family members you could be at an elevated risk. Being proactive in your health care can go a long way.

Heart disease encompasses a variety of conditions related to the heart, the blood vessels, or both. Though the mortality rate has decreased slightly in recent years, heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide.

While heart disease most often effects older adults, warning signs can be present from childhood and even birth. Because of this proactive preventative care is the most powerful care there is.

What preventative measures a person takes depends largely on the risk factors. There are some that are inherent that cannot be changed with lifestyle alterations. Those include:

• Being Male over 50
• Being a post-menopausal woman
• Having a family history of heart disease
• Being of African American, American Indian, or Mexican American decent

Factors within your control include:

• Choosing not to smoke
• Leaving diabetes uncontrolled
• Ignoring elevated cholesterol readings
• Ignoring high blood pressure

Steps you can take to help prevent developing heart disease as you get older

• Stop smoking – Smokers are at more than double the risk for heart disease than non-smokers, and even exposure through second-hand smoke can have a serious effect on others.
• Exercise – Most doctors recommend around 30 minutes of exercise a day, with more benefits seen with brisk activity. Even something as simple as taking a daily walk can make a huge impact on one’s heart health.
• Eat Well – A healthy diet goes far in managing cholesterol and blood pressure levels and contributes to your overall health. Foods to avoid are those high in trans and saturated fats, sodium, cholesterol, and refined sugars.
• Keep Weight in a Healthy Range – The extra body weight puts an additional strain on the heart and blood vessels. Obesity can also contribute to diabetes and high blood pressure.
• Keep stress in check – Unmanaged stress levels and extreme anger can eventually culminate in the form of a heart attack or stroke. Many techniques are available for reducing stress levels, which can both reduce the risk for heart disease as well as improve a person’s overall quality of life.
• Manage other medical conditions – High cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes can all contribute to the development of heart disease. Staying active and maintaining a healthy diet and weight can help manage these conditions, which in turn helps to prevent heart disease from occurring as well.

The cardiologists at Tampa Cardiovascular Associates are experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and are happy to offer advice regarding the prevention of such conditions.  www.tampacardio.com