How to Prevent Ischemic Heart Disease
Get regular aerobic exercise., Achieve and maintain a healthy weight., Quit smoking., Manage your stress levels., Identify the sources of stress in your life and make a list., Identify how you are coping with stress currently.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Get regular aerobic exercise.
Regular physical activity reduces cholesterol, reduces blood pressure and prevents atherosclerosis, therefore helping to prevent ischemic heart disease.
You should engage in roughly 30 minutes of exercise, five times a week.Try:
Moderate-intensity physical activity (for example, brisk walk), or Vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (for example, running) However, it should be emphasized that this is the minimum recommended exercise.
Exercising more than this level, and opting resistance exercises such as weightlifting, result in further reduction in risk of developing ischemic heart disease. -
Step 2: Achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease.
Obesity also causes hypertension and diabetes, which are risk factors for ischemic heart disease.
Therefore, if you are overweight or obese (that is, if your BMI is >25), the healthy approaches to reduce your weight should be opted, including appropriate changes in your diet and lifestyle, and regular exercise, as discussed above.Regarding total daily calories, women should try to eat roughly 1200-1500 kcal/day, while men should aim for 1500-1800 kcal/day. , Smoking is a very important risk factor for ischemic heart disease.
Work with your doctor to come up with a plan to help you quit.
This plan will involve picking a ‘start quitting’ day, and gradually weaning yourself off tobacco.
Your doctor may give you nicotine replacements, including nicotine patches and nicotine gums. , Stress is associated with increased incidence of ischemic heart disease.
The following steps will discuss how you can lower your stress levels. , Include things like something related to your job, your family life, your friends circle, traffic jams, breaking news on the news channels, everything that makes you feel stressed must be included in the list. , Is it any of the following unhealthy ways of coping with stress? Smoking, drinking, overeating, taking pills and sleeping for hours, fighting with others.
If yes, then pay close attention to the following healthy ways of coping with stress, which are commonly called the 4 A’s of stress management:
Avoid the stress if possible.
Look at your stress list and decide which situations or people who are the cause of stress in your life can be avoided.
For example, if the 9 o’ clock news bulletin is stressing, switch off your television at
9.
Alter the stress if it can’t be avoided.
Don’t just let things or people stress you.
Take the control of your life in your own hands.
Think about those unavoidable stress situations very thoroughly, focusing on identifying how you can make those situations not-so-stressful.
For example, if you are preparing for your test, and your roommate is disturbing you, deal with the problem head on, rather than just getting stressed.
Simply tell him to stop talking! Adapt to the stress.
If the situation can’t be altered, it may be you need to change your reaction to the situation.
It may involve changing your expectations of people, looking at a broader perspective and finding positive aspects of the situation.
Accept the stress if nothing else works out.
Trying to control the uncontrollable can never be beneficial.
So, if something in your stress list cannot be avoided or altered, and there is nothing you can do to adapt to the situation, you should accept the situation as it is, rather than fighting a war that you can’t win. -
Step 3: Quit smoking.
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Step 4: Manage your stress levels.
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Step 5: Identify the sources of stress in your life and make a list.
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Step 6: Identify how you are coping with stress currently.
Detailed Guide
Regular physical activity reduces cholesterol, reduces blood pressure and prevents atherosclerosis, therefore helping to prevent ischemic heart disease.
You should engage in roughly 30 minutes of exercise, five times a week.Try:
Moderate-intensity physical activity (for example, brisk walk), or Vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (for example, running) However, it should be emphasized that this is the minimum recommended exercise.
Exercising more than this level, and opting resistance exercises such as weightlifting, result in further reduction in risk of developing ischemic heart disease.
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease.
Obesity also causes hypertension and diabetes, which are risk factors for ischemic heart disease.
Therefore, if you are overweight or obese (that is, if your BMI is >25), the healthy approaches to reduce your weight should be opted, including appropriate changes in your diet and lifestyle, and regular exercise, as discussed above.Regarding total daily calories, women should try to eat roughly 1200-1500 kcal/day, while men should aim for 1500-1800 kcal/day. , Smoking is a very important risk factor for ischemic heart disease.
Work with your doctor to come up with a plan to help you quit.
This plan will involve picking a ‘start quitting’ day, and gradually weaning yourself off tobacco.
Your doctor may give you nicotine replacements, including nicotine patches and nicotine gums. , Stress is associated with increased incidence of ischemic heart disease.
The following steps will discuss how you can lower your stress levels. , Include things like something related to your job, your family life, your friends circle, traffic jams, breaking news on the news channels, everything that makes you feel stressed must be included in the list. , Is it any of the following unhealthy ways of coping with stress? Smoking, drinking, overeating, taking pills and sleeping for hours, fighting with others.
If yes, then pay close attention to the following healthy ways of coping with stress, which are commonly called the 4 A’s of stress management:
Avoid the stress if possible.
Look at your stress list and decide which situations or people who are the cause of stress in your life can be avoided.
For example, if the 9 o’ clock news bulletin is stressing, switch off your television at
9.
Alter the stress if it can’t be avoided.
Don’t just let things or people stress you.
Take the control of your life in your own hands.
Think about those unavoidable stress situations very thoroughly, focusing on identifying how you can make those situations not-so-stressful.
For example, if you are preparing for your test, and your roommate is disturbing you, deal with the problem head on, rather than just getting stressed.
Simply tell him to stop talking! Adapt to the stress.
If the situation can’t be altered, it may be you need to change your reaction to the situation.
It may involve changing your expectations of people, looking at a broader perspective and finding positive aspects of the situation.
Accept the stress if nothing else works out.
Trying to control the uncontrollable can never be beneficial.
So, if something in your stress list cannot be avoided or altered, and there is nothing you can do to adapt to the situation, you should accept the situation as it is, rather than fighting a war that you can’t win.
About the Author
Douglas Hill
Writer and educator with a focus on practical cooking knowledge.
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