5 Habits That Affect Your Heart
The heart is the main organ in the cardiovascular system, whose function is to pump blood throughout the body, transferring nutrients, oxygen, hormones, and other substances to the appropriate tissues and organs.
When the heart and blood vessels do not work as they should, it gives rise to disorders known as cardiovascular diseases that can be dangerous to your life.
A person who has heart problems is prone to various risk factors - from arterial wear to a heart attack. However, scientists say that the way of life also affects the work of the heart. Therefore, you should know about these 5 habits that can cause heart problems.
Sedentary Lifestyle
If you sit at the computer or in front of the TV for hours, the risk of a stroke increases, even if you regularly exercise. The exercises you do a couple times a week do not compensate for the time you spend in a motionless state.
A sedentary lifestyle has a bad effect on the level of fats and sugar in the blood. Therefore, even if you have to sit for a long time, try to get up and walk from time to time.
Ignoring Snoring
Snoring is often the subject of jokes but in fact, it can be a serious signal. For example, obstructive sleep apnea (a short-term respiratory arrest while sleeping, which can cause an increase in blood pressure) significantly increases the risk of a heart disease.
It is estimated that more than 18 million adults suffer from sleep apnea. This is especially true for people who are overweight or obese. If you snore and often wake up in a broken state, it's best to consult a doctor. There are easy ways to detect apnea, as well as successful treatment methods.
Smoking or Cohabitation with a Smoker
Here is another advice to you - do not smoke. Smoking is a total disaster for your heart. It promotes the formation of blood clots that can block the flow of blood to the heart and leads to the accumulation of plaques in the arteries.
If you smoke, not only do you put yourself at risk but you also endanger those who live near. Each year, about 46,000 non-smoking people who live with smokers die from heart diseases due to passive smoking.
Overeating
The main cause of heart diseases is being overweight. To avoid overeating problems, try to do the following:
• Don't eat large portions of food
• Replace sweet drinks with water
• Reduce the consumption of high-calorie dishes
• Keep in mind that products with the "low in fat" inscription often contain a lot of calories
Suppression of Stress, Aggression or Irritation
If you are experiencing negative emotions for a long time but you cannot express them, it puts a heavy burden on your heart.
Those who suppress stress for a long time, endanger themselves. Studies prove that the ability to laugh heartily and maintain friendly relations, as well as enjoy social and family support, have a positive impact on your heart health. Sharing your problems with people who support you is very beneficial for a healthy living.
Importance of Metabolic Surgery to Improve BP Control in Obesity
Obesity and overweight is increasingly becoming a source of concern for societies and health systems in various countries. This is fueled by the increasing appetite for junk foods, sedentary lifestyles and a lack of exercise. Obesity has grave medical implications as it heightens the risk of cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes Mellitus, arthritis and other long term deleterious effects. Obesity in associated with dyslipidemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes Mellitus make up the clinical entity called metabolic syndrome. Hypertension is a potent risk factor for major cardiovascular events such as strokes, myocardial infarction etc.
Traditional management of hypertension has relied on the use of anti-hypertensive medications and lifestyle modifications. Management for obesity has included lifestyle modifications such as exercise, dieting, and drugs. The results achieved with the use of these interventions has been frustratingly abysmal.
Metabolic surgery currently is the most effective method for achieving rapid weight loss in individuals who meet the criteria. Metabolic surgery makes use of bariatric techniques such as ileal interposition, transit bipartition, sleeve gastrectomy etc. This surgery is also called diabetes surgery, weight loss surgery or metabolic surgery.
Apart from the rapid attainment and maintenance of weight loss, it has been discovered that metabolic surgery in the long term also leads to improvement in co-morbidities such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, dyslipidemia and even hypertension, hence the name metabolic surgery.
The biggest evidence as yet which points to the fact that obese individuals who undergo this surgery have better control over their blood pressure comes from the GATEWAY study. The study monitored 100 patients with hypertension whose BMI ranged between 30 - 39 kg/m2. It was discovered from the study that individuals who underwent surgery attained faster control of the blood pressure in 12 months (83%) compared to those who relied solely on anti-hypertensive medications (12.8%). This is revealing and a pointer to the fact that obese individuals who undergo metabolic surgery have a better control of their blood pressure in addition to improvement of other obesity-associated co-morbidities.
This can be explored as a strategy in the management of hypertension in obese individuals who will both benefit from rapid weight loss and improvement in blood pressure control.
Current approach to hypertension management includes use of multiple anti-hypertensive pills, dietary and lifestyle modifications. This has been associated with poor compliance and medication fatigue. This negatively affects treatment success.
With the use of Metabolic surgery, obese individuals who are also hypertensive will not only benefit from rapid weight loss but will have better blood pressure control with the use of less anti-hypertensive medications. Thus, thus is a valuable treatment modality and benefit of Metabolic surgery. It should however be noted that not all individuals qualify for metabolic surgery. Discuss with your physician on your eligibility today.
Caring for Your Heart
Leading a healthy and active lifestyle not only ensures that a person can remain active well into their latter years but it confirms that the most important organ in the human body is well cared for. There are a number of body parts that humans can do without but the heart is not one of them and over an average lifetime it beats millions of times. This means that blood is pumped to every part of the body and the brain and its functions benefit from this.
Lack of activity and an unhealthy diet can have an adverse affect on the vital role of the heart resulting in an even greater strain on this organ, forcing it to work much harder than it needs to. Ongoing abuse like this can culminate in a heart attack or complete heart failure. If a victim is lucky, a heart attack may not be fatal but the clinical care and sacrifices that have to be made after such an event can take many months and untold hours of sacrifice for the victim and their family.
There are many people who adopt the mindset that "you have got to die sometime", but there is no substitute for quality of life. Many people who have experienced severe heart problems adjust their way of thinking after the length of time that it takes to get over the warning they have received. These are the lucky ones because many people who experience such problems do not live through the ordeal.
There is no doubt that the lazy attitude which has developed over recent years has put immense pressure on the health service of many nations. This, in turn, causes the problems that many have to endure if they have to visit a hospital: long waiting times, cancelled appointments and procedures and rushed face-to-face consultations.
All of this is brought about because medical staff are under so much pressure and their frequently increased patient numbers see them working longer hours at the expense of their own health. This is the reason why many professionals leave the health service.
So, remaining lazy and not caring for yourself can have a drastic outcome on family members who have to take control of your rehabilitation after a health scare as well as the health care professionals whose medical expertise is needed to ensure that you do not die on the operating table.
Finally, to add to the pressure of these professionals there is always somebody who feels they were hard done by and instigates legal proceedings if the results do not go their way.
There are many complaints that can lead to major heart problems but many people choose to ignore this at their peril. Is it to much to ask to put into practice effort and determination by adopting a healthy lifestyle to help you in your latter years?
Ten Causes of High Blood Pressure
Because of our growing population and the ever increasing of dementia it is especially important for us to preserve our overall health and well-being. One of the best ways for us to do so it is to regulate our blood pressure.
However, before we can regulate our blood pressure, we must become aware of some of the major causes of it. Many of these causes can be avoided with a bit of awareness and self-control as well as a commitment to our overall health and well-being.
Here are the ten of the main causes of blood pressure.
1. Excess salt intake in our diet is a major cause of hypertension. Excess salt intake tightens the blood vessels and increases the resistance to the flow of blood, resulting in hypertension.
2. Excess sugar also causes blood pressure problems. The sugar that we consume when we drink too much pop, eat too much cereal or too many cakes biscuits or muffins can cause difficulties for us.
3. Obesity also causes high blood pressure. Obesity is a growing problem in our western world. Excess fat squeezes the major blood vessels in the body which in turn causes hypertension.
4. Smoking contributes to hypertension. So, we should think of getting rid of our nicotine habit, if we have one. With every puff of smoke you take, your blood turns a little less red and a little blue, depriving your brain of the energy it needs to function properly.
5. Excessive and persistent alcohol intake can lead to higher blood pressure. Excessive drinking is defined by the medical literature as two or more drinks a day.
6. A sedentary lifestyle may be increasingly imposed on us by modern life's demands and the wired world. We certainly sit a lot more than our ancestors did. And this is increasing our blood pressure and obesity rates at an alarming rate every year.
7. Insufficient or poor quality sleep can also contribute to high blood pressure. Sleeping in long enough to feel rested is not a luxury. It is an opportunity for the brain to rejuvenate itself and for the proper blood supply to reach our brains.
8. Persistent loneliness, high anxiety and depression can also cause hypertension. These conditions can impair our mind and the flow of the blood to our heart.
9. Excess stress can cause problems too. This is because when we are stressed our arteries get overworked and clots and clogs are possible over the long term.
10. Noise also can cause an increase in heart rate. This is especially the case for noise that is irritating to the ears.
By trying to avoid some of these causes of stress, you will be working towards reducing your blood pressure. And this is so important for overall quality of life. This is because without an effectively functioning heart, you cannot have a good quality of life.
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