| Discover Your Risks For Heart Disease | There are many risk factors for acquiring heart disease; high LDL cholesterol is only one. Genealogy plays a significant role. Should your father have had a heart attack or stroke prior to age 55 or your mother had heart disease or stroke prior to 65, you have a higher risk. The same increased risk factor applies if your siblings had cardiac arrest or strokes in those age brackets. Hypertension, smoking cigarettes, diabetic issues, chronic kidney disease, being 30% or more over your ideal body weight (as determined by your BMI), metabolic syndrome, leading a sedentary lifestyle, HDL of less than 40 mg/dL and females with premature menopause all raise your heart attack and stroke risk factors. A previous personal history of any kind of cardiac event also puts you at a greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Offsetting factors
There are numerous positive factors that help offset risk factors. High levels of HDL or "good" cholestrerol levels are very helpful in preventing heart problems or at least offsetting risk factors. The Framingham study and others have suggested that for each single point increase in HDL, there is a corresponding drop in your risk of going into cardiac arrest by 2%-3%. Some of us are just plain fortunate and are born with high HDL. Others are not so lucky and struggle to raise their HDL and even with excessive physical activity are helpless to raise it. HDL below 40 is considered a risk factor. HDL of more than 60 is considered a positive factor for cardiovascular disease. Total cholesterol readings are not the best barometer of cardiovascular disease risk. Even though high HDL levels and low LDL levels are no guarantee, your risk factors are most assuredly reduced with high HDL and further reduced with low LDL levels. Overall or total high cholesterol levels are less accurate as a predictor but most often a higher total cholesterol reading is attributable to high LDL.
Physical exercise a preventive for heart problems
Consistent exercise or physical activity is a very real and effective way to reduce the risk of cardiac arrest and strokes. Cardio exercise is the best way to strengthen your heart muscle, increase HDL levels and reduce blood pressure. To get the most heart health benefit out of any workout, you need to get your pulse rate elevated. If you have not exercised for an extended time period and otherwise lead a sedentary lifestyle, you should consult your physician before beginning any exercise regime. Once you have been given the go ahead you still need to start slow and increase your physical effort at a rate you are comfortable with for two reasons. Firstly is your muscles including your heart need time to build up. Trying to do it all at once will make you sore and may not be the best for your heart. The second reason is that if you hurt yourself by using muscles and tendons that are not used to that kind of intense use, you may end up with injuries or be so sore that you don't feel like staying consistent with your exercise session. Consistency is an essential aspect. You will improve your conditioning quickly if you are regular with your newfound exercise session.
Typical Warning Signs Of Heart Disease To Keep In Mind
Before one can seek effective treatment for heart disease, one needs to realize that a heart condition exists. While this would seem like an academic point, the truth of the matter is that many people are completely unaware that they may have heart disease.
Heart/Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Means Improving Diet And Lifestyle
Heart disease prevention includes taking corrective action with regard to the root of the problem. You can make a change in lifestyle and also change your diet so that the chances of heart disease are greatly minimized.
Learning More With Regard To Elevated Cholesterol Levels And Heart Disease
The connection between cholesterol and heart disease is especially pertinent to the issue of good health and, in order to be able to understand this connection better, there are a few other things that need to be understood first.
A Brief Outline Of Heart Disease
Heart disease remains one of the major causes of premature death in the world today. While this news might sound grim on the surface, the reality is that the sheer volume of premature deaths brought about by heart disease has declined significantly in recent years.
Identifying The Signs Of Rheumatic Heart Disease And Operation For Rheumatic Heart Disease
Rheumatic heart disease a condition in which the heart valves are damaged by rheumatic fever, which is an inflammatory disease that can affect many of the body's connective tissues, especially those in the areas of the heart, joints, brain and skin.
Are Researchers Nearing An Authentic Heart Disease Cure?
Advances in cellular therapy hold great potential for treating damaged and diseased tissues in the body, such as heart muscle, and they can come from a variety of sources, like stem cells from bone marrow and peripheral blood. |
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