With the turn of the decade, cardiovascular diseases (in common words heart attack) have become the leading cause of mortality in India. In comparison with the western ancestry, CVD (cardiovascular disease) affects our countrymen more in their most productive mid-life years.
But why is so? Why is a heart attack so common in India?
The answer is our lifestyle. We, Indians, are more prone to a heart attack, mostly because of our lifestyle.
Study says heart attack deaths rose in India by approximately 25% in the last twenty years.
So, before finding a way to prevent a heart attack, we must educate ourselves about the risks and factors of a heart attack.
What is a Heart Attack?
A heart attack is a medical condition that occurs when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the heart.
Extensive research has identified lifestyle factors that increase a person’s risk for heart attack. And what are they?
Major Lifestyle Risk Factors of A Heart Attack
Tobacco Smoking: The risk that a smoker will develop cardiovascular disease is five times higher than that for non-smokers. Cigarette smoking is a significant risk factors for a sudden heart attack in patients.
Physical Inactivity: An inactive lifestyle is indeed a recognized risk for heart attack. Physical activity can reduce blood cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and other related stuff, and is the best way to prevent heart attack.
Stress: The modern-day lifestyle invites different stress levels for individuals. There is a relation between the risk of heart attack and stress in the life of a person, along with their health behaviors and socioeconomic status.
Alcohol: Though drinking a moderated amount of alcohol works excellently to release stress in individuals, but consuming too much could result in a different condition. Drinking too much alcohol can increase blood pressure, resulting in ventricular hypertrophy, cardiomyopathy, and stroke.
Diet: A healthy diet is the best possible antidote to a heart attack risk. But, if you do not eat healthily, you will be at risk of acquiring heart disease, which in the future can result in a cardiac arrest.
You now know, what are the problems in your regular lifestyle that invites a heart attack. What’s next? Understanding the issues will not help you prevent a heart attack.
Here we will discuss the measures that you can take to avoid a heart attack.
Nine Lifestyle Changes to Protect Your Heart & Prevent An Attack
You already understand the threats and risk factors of the modern-day lifestyle to your heart conditions. But some essential lifestyle hacks can help you prevent a heart attack risk. Let’s explore the list.
1. Quit Smoking: In any circumstances, cigarette smoking is not good for your health. The risk of a heart attack and stroke starts to drop after one stops smoking tobacco.
2. Kick-start Physical Activities: Do you know why our ancestors had a low risk of a heart attack? Because they were physically more active. Vigorous physical activities reduce the chances of a heart attack naturally.
3. Reduce Stress: Stress causes strain on the heart, which eventually creates a higher chance of CVD or a heart attack. Try reducing your stress levels by exercise, spiritual practice, meditation, or anything that you are comfortable with.
4. Limit Alcohol: As mentioned earlier, drinking too much contributes to obesity, high cholesterol levels, diabetes that results in myocardial dysfunctions or a cardiac arrest. However, there is a cardio protective effect of limited alcohol consumption.
If you can drink alcohol in a moderated quantity i.e., two drinks per day for men and one drink for women, it effects positively. Please be sure, it is not recommended to non- drinkers to start drinking alcohol.
5. Maintain a Healthy Weight: Extreme condition of weight can also aggravate the risk of heart disease. In cases of anorexia (and also reverse anorexia or bigorexia), the patients get diagnosed with dangerous heart rhythm, BP fluctuations, and even an imbalance of nerve rates.
Maintaining a healthy weight for any individual is advised and considered to be one of the best ways to prevent heart attack.
6. Lessen Hypertension: If you are already diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension), you are at a crippling affliction of cardiac disease. High blood pressure is one of the biggest causes of a sudden heart attack.
Lessen salt intake, incorporate a healthy diet and increase physical activities to control high blood pressure and prevent heart attack.
7. Manage High Cholesterol: As the level of your blood cholesterol rises, so does your risk of a heart attack. Consumption of LDL, VLDL, and Triglycerides (referred to as bad Cholesterol) is a dominant factor that builds up the fat deposits inside artery walls, hence encouraging the chances of a heart arrest.
Check your lipid profile regularly, and start medication (if needed) to reduce the risk of a heart attack.
8. Control Diabetes: Diabetes is such a medical condition that initiates a chain reaction of other health issues. Sometimes diabetes is called the silent killer as it can lit up the chances of a stroke without any prior notice or symptoms. People with diabetes should check and evaluate the condition regularly to reduce the risk of a heart attack.
9. Eat a Healthy Diet: To my consent, a healthy diet is the best thing you can do to reduce the chances of a heart attack. The food you eat has a significant role in maintaining your heart’s health. Whatever you eat has a direct impression on your heart. So eat healthy to keep your heart healthy.
A question might start bothering you since you have seen a “eat healthy” tip in the above discussion.
So, what do we need to eat to avoid a heart attack?
- Eat veggies, grains, fruits, nuts, and seeds every day.
- Choose good fats (HDL) and oils.
- Have moderate proteins (fishes, lean meats)
- Drink mainly water, and avoid any sweetened drink. You can have caffeine-based drinks if consumed in a reasonable amount.
What not to eat to limit the chances of a heart?
- Limit salty or oily snacks from diet. (Limit fried foods mainly)
- Minimize sugar-based foods.
- Red meat like mutton, lamb, pork etc.
- Trim sodium-added foods.
- Processed/ junk foods.
This discussion might help you find a better way to choose your lifestyle hacks to prevent a heart attack.
PS: If you have taken any action or just planned to jog 15 minutes a day, I would be happy to consider success to this blog. Give your lifestyle a change if it deliberately needs one. Stay healthy, stay blessed. Stay the distance with a heart attack!