Heart Disease

The Mayo Clinic says, “Heart disease is the leading cause of death.” With coronary artery disease, plaque first grows within the walls of the coronary arteries until the blood flow to the heart’s muscle is restricted and becomes limited. Although you cannot change some risk factors, such as family history, sex or age, you can take some heart disease prevention steps to reduce your risk. Adopting a healthy lifestyle today can delay the progression of coronary artery disease in the future. “Coronary artery disease is preventable,” agreed Johnny Lee, M.D., President of New York Heart Associates.

The Mayo Clinic recommends 7-Prevention Strategies for boosting your heart health:

1. Don’t smoke, use tobacco, or breathe second-hand smoke, it reduces oxygen levels.
2. Exercise daily, even 10 minutes of daily walking can lower your risk of heart disease.
3. Eat a heart healthy diet.
4. Maintain a healthy weight, daily exercise will help with this.
5. Get good, quality sleep.
6. Manage your stress levels.
7. Get regular health screenings.

The Most Common Types of Cardiovascular Disease
Coronary Artery Disease - damage or disease in the heart’s major blood vessels
High Blood Pressure - a condition in which the force of the blood against the artery walls is too high
Cardiac Arrest - sudden and unexpected loss of heart function, breathing and consciousness
Congestive Heart Failure - a chronic condition in which the heart doesn’t pump blood as well as it should
Arrhythmia - irregular beating of the heart, either too fast, or too slow
Peripheral Artery Disease - a circulatory condition where narrowed blood vessels reduce blood flow to the limbs
Stroke - damage to the brain from interruption of its blood supply
Congenital Heart Disease - an abnormality in the heart that develops before birthto a doctor's appointment.