What do you know about heart health?
Every February, people are encouraged to focus on the importance of heart health, but this issue should be a yearround focus for all senior Americans.
“Following healthy habits will lead to a healthy heart; one of normal size and thickness that pumps blood without difficulty, can ramp up activity when your body needs to, and has healthy arteries providing it with blood flow and energy,” said Alexander Postalian, MD, Interventional and General Cardiologist, Texas Heart Institute, Texas Heart Medical
Group. “The major factors that everyone can act on to improve their cardiovascular health include nutrition, physical activity, stress management, and vices. No major surprises there.” According to the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), heart disease is a leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women.
Dr. Postalian said that eating a diet rich in simple (bad) carbohydrates like sugar, rice, bread, pasta, or potatoes has negative metabolic effects that affect your cardiovascular system. The same goes for excess saturated fats. Eating too much salt, if done often, can increase your blood pressure into unhealthy territory. Not only is food composition important, but the amount matters — an excess caloric balance will result in your body storing those extra calories, and that happens in the form of fat. Some of this fat you can see from the outside, but a large part of it is inside your body wrapping your vital organs causing metabolic havoc.
“There are many specific diets that you can try to follow but be wary of those that are too dogmatic and harsh. In general: If you eat meat, favor fish or chicken over beef, avoid fried things, and use healthy vegetables
as sides,” said Dr. Postalian. “Be careful with what dressing you put on your salad, because some are extremely high in sugar and bad fats, shooting the calorie load of your meal through the roof — sometimes even higher than a hamburger or French fries.”
Stress management is a broad category — happy mind, happy heart. Try to make sure you have adequate sleep, avoid feeling and amplifying stress at work and home, spend time outside, enjoy time with loved ones, and be at peace accepting things that cannot be changed.
“Vices, particularly smoking, are also a major problem. Fortunately, the number of cigarette smokers in the United States has dropped significantly in recent years. However, the advent of vaping may change this, and we need to remain vigilant as a society. In general, I recommend avoiding putting unknown substances in your body unless proven to be beneficial, or at least harmless,” said Dr. Postalian. “Overall: Be vigilant. If it feels wrong, it is probably wrong. If you are noticing something concerning with your body, or if you have lingering questions about what you can do to manage your cardiovascular risk factors, it is never wrong to have a conversation with your GP or cardiologist.”
According to the Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.org), symptoms of heart disease depend on what type you have. Heart diseases include blood vessel disease, such as coronary artery disease, heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias), heart valve disease, disease of the heart muscle, and heart infection.