Last week we looked at 3 things that affect your risk for coronary artery disease
(CAD): blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. This week we will discuss 3
more things that can affect your risk, weight management, smoking, and
cardiovascular exercise.
Weight management
Carrying too much unhealthy weight, like abdominal fat, affects all the processes
in your body. There’s a term we use called metabolic syndrome, which is
significantly affected by the amount of weight you carry. The syndrome describes
all the processes of metabolism not functioning as well as they should. So, blood
sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol metabolism are all negatively affected by
the weight you carry. Then, all of those problems affect the heart arteries.
Smoking
Smoking is the single most damaging thing that a large part of our society chooses
to do, which leads to a lot of CAD and heart disease. The inflammatory effects of
smoking directly damage the blood vessels, which leads to blockages and elevated
blood pressure, etc. If you smoke, more than anything else, this is the thing you
absolutely MUST accomplish. Get help. Stop smoking.
Cardiovascular exercise
Or maybe I should use another term which is exercise capacity. If you are a
stationary person who doesn’t do much activity that gets your heart rate up in a
positive manner, then your heart cannot stay healthy. Routine exercise (30 min
5x/week for moderate or 45 min 3x/week for aggressive) will help clean the
arteries and decrease inflammation. When you work your heart in a good way, it
improves its blood flow.
Here’s a reminder that heart disease is the leading cause of death for men,
women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. But, as
we’ve covered, there are many things you can do to lower your risk of heart
disease. So, if you read this, learn more about it, and actually make changes to
improve your health, you can change your potential future.
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