Why we Get Heart Disease

Some causes of heart disease are controllable while others are completely uncontrollable. We cannot control the fact that we are always aging and older age is a risk factor for heart disease. We cannot also control our family history. If we have family histories positive for hypertension, stroke, heart disease or elevated cholesterol, we are at risk for getting these conditions as well. Males

are more prone to heart disease than women.

You can control your smoking habits, with the idea that you never smoke at all. If you smoke, you should stop smoking. If you are a woman at high risk for heart disease and are past menopause, you may need to weigh the risk of taking hormones versus the fact that they may control the onset of heart disease in some women. You can lower your cholesterol through medications and through dietary changes that lower your cholesterol. You can take blood pressure medications to control an elevated blood pressure. You can lower the amount of salt in your diet and maintain a healthy weight. Physical activity can reduce the risk of heart disease. Keeping good dental hygiene can reduce your rate of getting heart disease.

If you already have heart disease, there are good ways to treat it nowadays. If you have blocked coronary arteries, you can have an angioplasty with or without stent placement to keep the artery from becoming completely occluded. If you have multiple vessel disease or extensive disease of one artery, you may need to have a coronary artery bypass graft or a CABG surgery. This is where a vein is used to bypass the blocked areas of the coronary vessels. You can have one or several coronary arteries unblocked this way at the same surgical operation. Pacemakers can be used to keep you from having dangerous arrhythmias. There is even an implantable defibrillator that will detect a stoppage of electrical activity from the heart and will shock you back to life immediately using an implantable device. There are defibrillators in many stadiums, airports and other large places that will shock a person who has ventricular fibrillation from heart disease. These devices have all saved lives. People with known heart disease need to have low blood pressure, low blood sugar and low blood cholesterol levels in order to keep atherosclerosis from progressing.

You can prevent heart disease by stopping smoking, eating right and exercising often. Know your risk factors and do what you can to prevent them from turning you into a heart patient. The more you can do early in life, the less trouble you will have with your heart as you age. You should drink alcohol in moderation so that you won’t become a heart patient later in life.