It’s necessary to make healthy changes in the way we are leading our lives for preventing cardiac deaths and heart attacks. Here are 7 heart-healthy lifestyle changes you should immediately make.
Many recent deaths due to cardiac issues without any prior signs and symptoms is making us reflect what can be done to lead a healthy and disease-free life. While simply having ‘no exercise’ can increase your chances of heart attacks, too much can do damage to the body.
As our lifestyles become more sedentary post the Covid pandemic, since many of us are now used to being confined to houses and lost touch with our physically active routine, it is imperative to make healthy changes in the way we are leading our lives for preventing cardiac deaths and heart attacks.
“Prevention of SCA by adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle, regular physical exercise, quitting smoking and regular periodic heart check-up is the only way to reduce the incidence of this public health problem. Awareness of CPR and learning the use of AED devices by laypersons is also extremely important to reduce the harmful consequences of SCA,” Dr Kartikeya Bhargava, Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology & Pacing at Medanta Heart Institute, Gurugram told Indian publication The Hindu.
STOP SMOKING
The most important thing is to quit smoking. It is a common denominator in those who are dying at the end of it. So one of the best thing one can do for one heart is to stop smoking or using smokeless tobacco because both are harmful.
One should also be aware of passive smoking. Risk of heart disease drops very significantly if you quit smoking for a few days only. And after a year of quitting smoking, the risk of heart disease drops to about half of that of a regular smoker. So quit smoking as early as possible.
REGULAR EXERCISE
30 to 60 minutes of activity daily is very important. Exercise not only controls your body weight, but it also decreases the chances of developing condition that enhances the risk of heart disease like high blood pressure, high cholesterol level or developing diabetes.
EATING HEALTHY
A healthy diet is a must for keeping the heart well. Eat more vegetables and fruits. If you are a non-vegetarian, stick to lean meats like fish and chicken. Avoid red meat, avoid excessive salt or sugar. Cut down sugar as much as possible and processed carbohydrates or alcohol. Also maintain a healty weight.
SLEEP WELL
The human body must sleep for at least 7 to 8 hours per day. It is a known fact that those who are get restful sleep may have lesser chances of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and heart attacks.
MANAGE STRESS
Managing stress is very important. It stops unhealthy habits like overeating drinking, smoking. Along with managing stress, meditation, physical activity, relaxation techniques, plus regular health screening is also very important.
CHECK YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
You must check your blood pressure as it is connected to heart disease. Monitoring should start as early as the age of 18 – you should measure it every two to four years. If you are between 18 to 39 years of age, you should check your blood pressure every year.
SUGAR LEVELS
If there is a family history of diabetes, one should start screening it and managing it at an earlier age. If there is no such history, screening can be done in middle age.
