The Best Ways to Protect Your Heart Health
With Valentine’s Day coming up, you’ve been seeing hearts everywhere. But I want to talk about the most important heart of all: the one you depend on to stay alive!
American Heart Month is recognized in February every year, and this year it takes on an even greater significance because of COVID-19. People with serious heart conditions are more likely to become severely ill from COVID. But long before the pandemic, American Heart Month has been celebrated to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease, and with large numbers of people dying from cardiovascular disease each year, raising awareness is crucial.
How cardiovascular disease can affect you
How often do you think about how hard your heart works for you every day? Your heart has been beating since before you were born, and each day it beats around 100,000 times and pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood through your body. Your cardiovascular system is pretty amazing.
But sadly, cardiovascular disease is an incredibly common cause of death, with more than 800,000 Americans dying from it every year according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “Cardiovascular disease” is an umbrella term for any disease of the heart or blood vessels, so there are many types of cardiovascular diseases.
Heart disease is a subcategory under cardiovascular disease. It refers to any disease of the heart specifically. There are many types of heart diseases, the most common being coronary heart disease (also called coronary artery disease). This disease occurs when plaque builds up in your arteries and reduces the amount of blood that gets to your heart. Coronary heart disease kills around 366,000 Americans each year.
High blood pressure (hypertension) is another cardiovascular condition to watch out for. It can damage multiple organs in your body, including your heart. High blood pressure increases your risk of heart attack, heart disease, and stroke. But high blood pressure has no signs or symptoms, so unless you measure your blood pressure regularly, you may have high blood pressure and not know it.
There is a wide variety of ways that your heart and cardiovascular system can be threatened. That’s why American Heart Month is an ideal time to educate yourself and your loved ones about how to promote heart health.
Ways to keep your heart healthy
Have your regular doctor checkup - Even if you feel fine and you don’t think you have any health problems, it’s good to go to the doctor anyway for a regular checkup. Your doctor can shed light on heart health health issues you may be overlooking.
Eat heart-healthy foods - Eating too many salty, fatty, sugary foods can cause problems for your heart. But sometimes trying to find healthy foods is difficult. One easy way to add more heart-healthy foods to your diet is to look for the American Heart Association’s Heart Check Certification symbol on foods when you go grocery shopping.
Make exercise a habit - Johns Hopkins Medicine explains why exercise is great for heart health: “It’s one of your most effective tools for strengthening the heart muscle, keeping your weight under control and warding off the artery damage from high cholesterol, high blood sugar and high blood pressure that can lead to heart attack or stroke.” Aerobic exercise in particular is good for heart health because it improves blood circulation.
Reduce your stress - I always like to emphasize the importance of stress reduction for your health. Studies have shown that stress – especially chronic stress – can wreak havoc on your heart. No matter how busy you are, remember to take time for yourself and do things that calm you down and make you happy.
When you think about the dangers of cardiovascular disease, it’s easy to feel worried. But don’t be disheartened. You have the power to make healthy choices that protect your heart and keep it beating strong for a long time to come.
