There are many changes you can make in life to prevent coronary heart disease and to help your recovery if you have already had a heart attack.Reduce stress. Doing so can lessen the strain on your heart. For those who over work, remember the greatest wealth is health.Don’t smoke. If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you smoke, quitting will lower your risk for heart disease. Smoking is a woman’s number one risk factor for heart disease. Smokers are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack as nonsmokers, and are more likely to die from an attack. Limit alcohol consumption. Evidence suggests that moderate alcohol consumption can reduce heart attack risk, but any more than one drink a day for women may have negative consequences. Avoid consuming too much alcohol, which causes high blood pressure. Check cholesterol. If test results are high, this problem can be controlled through diet, exercise, weight loss, and if necessary, medication.Monitor your blood pressure. High blood pressure increases the heart’s workload, which enlarges the heart and weakens it, making a heart attack more likely. Just because you are not sick does not mean that you are healthy. High blood pressure is a silent killer; it doesn’t cause symptoms until damage is done, so you’re unlikely to know you have it. Regular testing is the best defence. Manage your diabetes. Women with diabetes have double the chance of having a heart attack. Losing weight, exercising, and reducing cholesterol are all good preventative measures. If you already have diabetes, make sure it’s well controlled.Eat a healthy diet. Choosing healthy meals can help you avoid heart disease and its complications. Be sure to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Going easy on saturated fats products can help reduce cholesterol levels. “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison” Ann Wigmore, acclaimed nutrionist.Exercise regularly. Regular exercise can help control cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Thirty minutes of aerobic activity at least three times a week is advised. Physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower blood pressure. It is recommended adults engage in moderate-intensity exercise for two hours and 30 minutes every week.See your doctor. Better to have pain checked out than to let a heart problem continue untreated. Talk to your doctor about any concerns you have about coronary heart disease and your risk factors.
