Chronic Conditions 5 MIN READ 8056 VIEWS September 28, 2021

How To Improve Heart Health: Points To Keep In Mind

heart health

Heart functions around the clock. It has several functions to perform in the body. Pumping blood and oxygen to all organs are its main functions.  But only few of us value its role in keeping the body healthy. This ignorance has become the cause of serious issues. High cholesterol and blood pressure are very common stories in the world these days and cause a risk to your heart health. Heart diseases induced by them are the biggest killers in the world now. The article exposes heart diseases and how to improve heart health.

Types of Heart Diseases

Heart diseases are nothing but a condition affecting the cardiovascular system, negatively. Want to know how to improve cardiovascular health? Let’s know the diseases first.

  • Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: In this heart problem, contractions become hard due to muscle thickening of walls in the heart. It develops because of genetic issues that affect the heart. This heart disease doesn’t have symptoms. Therefore, it is hard to treat at the right time.
  • Congenital heart defects: It is a heart problem by birth. In heart diseases, valves may not open properly. There may be hole in the wall. Valves may leak. Or one of the valves is not there.
  • Coronary artery disease: Most common type heart disease. It is due to arteries clogging.  Arteries play an important role in blood supply to the heart.  When arteries are clogged with plaque, blood supply reduces. And the heart receives less nutrients and oxygen. Plaques mainly consist of cholesterol. That narrows down the way for blood flow. As a result, heart muscles get weaker and chances of arrhythmia and heart failure increases.
  • Arrhythmia: It consists of Irregular heart beats. Arrhythmia may consist of rapid heartbeat, slow heartbeat, and early heartbeat. Arrhythmia takes place when electrical impulses don’t coordinate with the heartbeat correctly. Therefore, it is life threatening and has complications.
  • Dilated cardiomyopathy: In such heart diseases, heart muscles become thinner.  It happens because of a past history of arrhythmia and heart attacks. Also, genetics play a role in weakening muscles.
  • Myocardial infarction: Generally, people know it is a heart attack. It involves the blood flow interruption to the heart. Also can damage the heart muscles. A better heart muscle is important to improve heart health. Only then, blood will flow without damaging the heart.

Maintenance of a healthy heart is essential for heart disease prevention. You can keep a track of the basic metrics of your heart health using smart devices. To stay on top and minimise the risk of these diseases, you should also go for a heart check up once every 9-12 months.

Risk Factors to Heart Health

All these heart diseases affect heart health in one way or another. Here are some risks that heart develops due to them. Understanding them will help to know how to strengthen your heart. 

  1. High blood pressure
  2. Diabetes
  3. Low supply of nutrients and oxygen
  4. Heart beat irregularity
  5. May damage the heart or parts of it

Symptoms of Heart Attack

Some of the heart diseases have symptoms but some of them do not. But, here are some symptoms of heart attack. Understanding them will help to know how to strengthen heart muscle.

  1. Breathing issue
  2. chest pain
  3. stomach pain
  4. fatigue
  5. irregular heartbeat
  6. Jaw, leg, back, and arm pain
  7. Sleeping issues
  8. Sweating

These are some early symptoms of heart attack in females. Along with that some events like menopause may increase the heart attack risks. This is due to falling levels of oestrogen. You should follow a healthy lifestyle for heart attack prevention.

Causes of Weak Heart

Causes of weak heart is important to know before discussing how to strengthen a weak heart. 

  1. Smoking
  2. High alcohol consumption
  3. Family history
  4. Food choices
  5. Obesity
  6. Low physical activity levels
  7. Age
  8. Precambrian history (Pregnancy)
  9. Increased stress level

How to Improve Heart Health Quickly

There are various medications and different types of surgery to treat heart health.

1. Medications

There are certain medications that you can consume as part of your heart healthy diet.

  1. Blood thinner: Anticoagulants and antiplatelet therapies can prevent the clots in arteries. They thin the blood in the arteries. So that blood flow can be easy.
  2. Beta blockers: It reduces the blood pressure and heart rate. Therefore, angina and arrhythmia patients use them.
  3. Vasodilators: These are good for relaxing blood vessels. So, it can lower the blood pressure. Also helps in soothing chest pain.
  4. Cholesterol reduction: In medications, drugs help in reducing the cholesterol (low density lipoprotein) in the body.

2. Surgery

When medications are ineffective, a person has to go under heart surgery. Know how to improve heart health quickly with it.

  1. Bypass surgery: When plague has blocked the arteries, it allows blood flow in the heart. It is the most common surgery. And helps to repair the blocked arteries.
  2. Maze surgery:  Surgeons consider maze surgery to create a path to pass electrical signals.
  3. Laser treatment: It is very helpful in treating angina. Usually, surgeons use Trans myocardial laser for it.
  4. Implantation: To support blood flow and regulate the heartbeat, surgeons use implantation. They use balloon catheters and pacemakers for it.

Immediate Action to Take During Cardiac Arrest

CPR is an immediate action to take if someone has cardiac arrest. It stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Tell someone to call at the emergency number and start giving CPR if you know that.  Here is what CPR includes.

  1. Maintains the oxygen flow in the vital organs
  2. Push the chest hard and fast
  3. 100 to 120 compression in a minute.
  4. Allowing the chest raise completely while doing compression
  5. Give him breath with mouth

How to Improve Heart Health Naturally

Want to know how to improve heart health naturally, here are some easy ways.

  • Eat for health: Heart healthy foods play an important role in proper functioning of our body. But, it may become the reason for an unhealthy heart. So, always stay good in choices.  Junk and processed foods are the biggest reason for an unhealthy heart. Choose fish, a food for heart health. It consists of omega 3 and other nutrients that make the heart healthy. Along with that, fruits and vegetables are the best foods for heart health. Green vegetables like spinach, kale, beet greens, and some of the heart’s friends.
  • Exercises: Cardio exercises are good for health. Swimming, cycling, jumping ropes, and others are quite helpful. But  weight training is very helpful along with them.
  • Supplements: Omega 3, coenzyme Q 10, multivitamin are main supplements for heart health. Along with them, zinc, magnesium, L-carnitine, and antioxidants are good for heart health. Incorporate them in your daily lifestyle. Also, try to take these nutrients from natural sources through food good for heart health.
  • Check up: Regular check ups play a vital role in heart health. These days, many gym goers have been seen falling down with heart attacks. Therefore, it shows the importance of regular check ups to know the current status of the heart.
  • Keep stress under control: Most people are living stressful lives. That is a new normal these days. Try to keep your stress and anxiety under control. Have green tea, rich antioxidant sources, citric acids, and others to keep it down.
  • Cut alcohol and quit smoking: Cut down the bad habits. A heart patient diet and lifestyle should exclude smoking, alcohol consumption, junk foods intake, and others. Sitting for hours can create an issue with heart health. Standing and stretching more often can help your heart to smile.
  • Breathe properly: Nowadays people are becoming accustomed to short breathing. It has negative effects on heart health. To avoid it, start doing yoga and breathing exercises.

Conclusion

The article is a guide to help the importance of recognizing the importance of heart health. Now people can make an informed decision about what they have to do to improve heart health. Please let us know how the article has been helpful to you by commenting on the comment box.

Frequently Asked Questions About Heart Healthy

Heart healthy foods include leafy green vegetables, whole grains, fish oil, walnuts, almonds, and so on.

You can undergo Electrocardiogram (ECG), a test that is used to determine the activity of your heart.

Common symptoms of poor heart health include dizziness, swollen legs, swollen feet and ankles, fatigue, shortness of breath, and so on.

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