World Heart Day...
How many times have you been told that you should eat right, exercise and take care of your heart because it is the only one that you have? Well it’s true and we need to care for our heart because although it’s a magnificent organ it cannot do it by itself. This year’s team for World Heart Day is “#Useheart to beat cardiovascular disease”. The heart is actually a muscle that works like a pump in distributing blood throughout the body. The heart has four (4) chambers. The two (2) at the top are the left and right atria and the two (2) at the bottom are the left and right ventricles. Blood vessels lead in and out of these chambers.
The heart is constantly bombarded by many diseases that if not treated can lead to death. The diet is one cause for concern when it comes to developing a heart disease but research has also shown that a sedentary lifestyle is a big contributor. A healthy lifestyle is not just eating the right foods in the appropriate portions but it also includes exercise. The human body needs exercise. Heart disease includes conditions affecting the heart, such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, congestive heart failure, and congenital heart disease. Although the heart carries out such an important function, the heart is very delicate and whatever is placed in the body has an effect on its organs whether positive or negative.
Some of the risks that lead to heart disease are: smoking, eating foods high in cholesterol, obesity, high blood pressure, lack of physical activity, stress and high alcohol consumption.
Hypertension (Blood Pressure)
Our blood pressure is simply the pressure put on the walls of the blood vessels as the heart pumps blood through them. The blood pressure in human beings varies from minute to minute; the heart goes up when it beats rapidly, this happens when we are excited or anxious. The heart goes down when we are resting, relaxing and calm. The problem arises when the blood pressure goes up and stays high and that is called high blood pressure. It can be determined by using a omanometer and not by feeling.
High blood pressure is sometimes referred to as the silent killer because it seldom makes you feel ill or give rise to symptoms.
Lack of physical activity
Exercise can help control blood cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. Lack of physical activity can put individuals at risk for coronary heart disease and may also be involved in stroke. Even modest
levels of low intensity physical activity are beneficial, if done regularly over the long term. A healthy lifestyle is inclusive of exercise. Obesity
People who are more than 30% over their ideal body weight are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke, even if they have no other risk factors. Obesity increases the strain on the heart; contributes to high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol and can lead to adultonset diabetes.
Stress
Stress may be a contributing factor in the development of heart disease and stroke. People under stress may also indulge in unhealthy activities such as smoking or overeating.
High alcohol consumption
Alcohol consumption should be restricted to 2 bottles of beer or 10 ounces of wine or 2 one ounce drinks of spirits daily. Persons tend to consume a lot of alcohol when they are also stressed which may lead to depression, while others are caught up in the party life and drink alcohol like water.
Smoking
A smoker’s risk of heart attack or stroke is twice that of a non-smoker. Chronic exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (or secondhand smoke) may increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Even though it may be one of the most difficult habits to quit, the rewards of stop smoking are perhaps the greatest and most immediate.
When you toss the smokes, your heart risk goes down within just a few days of quitting. Within a year, your risk of developing a heart disease is cut by half.
In this special supplement for World Heart Day, we remind you that if you don’t care for the strong beat that reassures us that we are alive, can fade if we don’t take the time to care.