Did you know one in every four deaths in the country is due to a heart attack? Heart attacks have become the leading cause of deaths all over the world in recent times.
According to research, feeling stressed increases your chances of having a heart attack. Medical experts instead suggest that taking appropriate action to prevent a heart attack helps manage it significantly.
Making a few changes in the way you live and the habits you pursue doggedly may certainly be effective to prevent or, at least, reduce the probability of a heart attack.
A few methods to prevent a heart attack are:
- If you are a smoker, quit the habit. This is a crucial first step in protecting your heart as smoking doubles the chances of a heart attack. Smoking develops atherosclerosis, a health condition that narrows the arteries and hardens it by building up plaque around its walls. Smoking also increases your blood pressure. Both of these cause a heart attack. If you are determined to overcome the harmful habit of smoking, take help from your doctor and enlist family and friends to support you with this decision. Identify the most effective way to deal with withdrawal symptoms and quit smoking permanently.
Additionally, secondhand smoke is as harmful as being a smoker. Being exposed to tobacco fumes can cause heart disease. So, if you smoke, remember you are endangering the lives of the people around you as well. If you are a non-smoker, you are vulnerable to passive smoking. So, encourage the smoker to quit the habit for good. - Quit drinking alcohol because it endangers your life. Alcohol is high in calories and leads to weight gain and increases your blood pressure. This, in turn, results in cardiovascular diseases. The chances of type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart attack are also more likely. In addition, alcohol consumption, over time, worsens other existing chronic or congenital heart conditions.
- Keep your blood pressure in check. High blood pressure strains the functioning of the heart and increases the risk of a heart attack. Physical, emotional, and mental stress, smoking tobacco, excessive consumption of alcohol, an unhealthy diet, excess salt, and a sedentary lifestyle are some other reasons why blood pressure can rise beyond optimum levels.
- Lose weight if you are obese. Excess weight puts pressure on your heart to work harder to circulate blood around your body. Following a nutritious diet rich in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), exercising moderately every day, getting adequate sleep, and maintaining a healthy body weight helps lose weight organically, preventing the chances of a heart attack.
- An active way of living that includes activities like walking, swimming, cycling, trekking, or any such outdoor exercise as a routine keeps your heart healthy, blood pressure under control, weight in check. This is a great way to prevent a heart attack.
