Tips for protecting the heart

Human heart

| credits: science.howstuffworks.com

Avoid salty, fatty food. To save money, eat out at restaurants less and cook at home from scratch eating simple fresh foods. Also maintain a healthy weight. Obesity has been shown to increase the risk of heart attacks, heart failure and diabetes.

• Don’t skimp on health care. Delaying seeking care when you have symptoms or splitting pills to cut costs is not helping your health in the long run. If prescription costs are a concern, check with your doctor, since many pharmaceutical companies offer lower cost prescription programmes.

• Keep up the exercise. Even if you have to drop your gym membership due to costs, participate in more inexpensive options like walking in the neighborhood or swimming at the local pool. New recommendations are to exercise for 30 to 60 minutes daily.

• Stop smoking and avoid secondhand smoke. It’s better for your heart to quit smoking — and for your wallet, since it’s an expensive habit. Smoking markedly increases the risk of heart attacks and heart failure.

• Reduce stress. Life can be especially stressful during times of financial hardship. The key to keeping stress from harming your health lies in finding a positive outlet, like exercise or meditation.

• Get your cholesterol levels checked. High cholesterol does not cause any symptoms until it is too late. The only way to know if you have a healthy cholesterol level is to get it checked.

• Maintain a healthy cholesterol level. The ideal level for your LDL (“bad” cholesterol) is less than 100. Certain individuals need to achieve even lower LDL cholesterol levels. Keeping your HDL (“good” cholesterol) levels up is also important.

• Get your blood pressure checked. Many patients with hypertension are not aware that they have this condition, for which very effective treatments are available.

• Maintain a normal blood pressure. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. Your systolic blood pressure should be below 140 and your diastolic blood pressure below 90.

• See your doctor regularly. Medical follow-up is one of the best ways to keep your heart healthy and avoid problems down the road.

Source: www.today.ucla.edu