“How can you avoid a heart attack?”
I am a 48 year old male. I want to know how can I avoid a heart attack?
2 Answers
1) Find your optimal weight and stick to it.
2) Exercise regularly.
3) Get enough sleep.
4) Reduce the stress in your life.
5) Eat a heart-healthy diet, e.g., the DASH diet.
6) Don't smoke.
7) Check your lipid profile. If you need to take medications after doing as well as possible with the quality of life recommendations, take them. If you have no evidence of cardiovascular disease, make sure your LDL is under 100. If you have evidence of vascular disease, it should be under 70.
8) If you have diabetes, get it treated with diet, exercise, and medication, if needed.
9) If your blood pressure is above 130/80 even after all the lifestyle changes, take medications for it.
In order to do all of the above, you will need to see a physician regularly and maybe a cardiologist and other specialists occasionally.
2) Exercise regularly.
3) Get enough sleep.
4) Reduce the stress in your life.
5) Eat a heart-healthy diet, e.g., the DASH diet.
6) Don't smoke.
7) Check your lipid profile. If you need to take medications after doing as well as possible with the quality of life recommendations, take them. If you have no evidence of cardiovascular disease, make sure your LDL is under 100. If you have evidence of vascular disease, it should be under 70.
8) If you have diabetes, get it treated with diet, exercise, and medication, if needed.
9) If your blood pressure is above 130/80 even after all the lifestyle changes, take medications for it.
In order to do all of the above, you will need to see a physician regularly and maybe a cardiologist and other specialists occasionally.
The best you can do is to control all the risks. Keep an ideal weight, low cholesterol, control blood pressure, don’t smoke. Do these by exercising at least 3 times per week, stay away from a lot of foods with animal fat, and get checked to control abnormal blood pressure and cholesterol. The factor that can’t be controlled is positive family history. Always stay away from cigarettes. Get regular checkups.
