Donita Robards, RN, Parish Nurse
Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States. The best way to prevent heart disease is to learn how to care for your heart right now. There are five things you can do to care for your heart, per the Mayo Clinic website.
- Don’t smoke. If you do smoke; quit. Talk to your doctor about a smoking cessation plan. Smoking forces your heart to work harder. It increases your heart rate and blood pressure because it causes narrowing of the arteries. If you quit smoking, your risk of heart disease will decrease after approximately one year of not smoking.
- Exercise. Most sources recommend that you exercise at least 30 minutes per day, 4-5 days per week. Activity can be spread out during the day in 10 minute increments. Exercise prevents heart disease by helping to lose/maintain weight. It also helps to reduce stress levels. Find an activity that you enjoy and is convenient for you to fit into your lifestyle.
- Eat a heart healthy diet. This is easier said than done. DASH diet stands for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension. A heart healthy diet is one of more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat, beans and fish. It is also a diet with less sodium than most of us would like to believe.
- Maintain a healthy BMI. BMI stands for Body Mass Index. Click here for a BMI calculator. Type in your information and it will give you your BMI.
- Schedule regular health screenings. These are blood pressure, cholesterol checks and diabetes screenings. If you are a diabetic, you will want to maintain normal blood sugar levels by eating a low concentrated sweets diet along with taking your medication as prescribed by your doctor. Your doctor will probably want to order additional lab work called a Hemoglobin A1c, also abbreviated as HbA1c. This test gives your doctor your average glucose reading over the last three months.
Heart disease prevention saves lives. This year, make it a goal to protect your heart. Avoid being one of the deaths due to heart disease so you can improve your chances of living to see the next new year! For additional information on heart disease, contact your doctor, or parish nurse at donita.robards@resthaven.org or (616) 796-3800.