Heart Disease Prevention

The best treatment for this illness is heart disease prevention. Learning what the risk factors are and determining if you are at risk will also help.

Heart disease prevention is easy and will save you much discomfort later in life.

There are factors to consider in heart disease prevention these include controllable and uncontrollable factors. Uncontrollable factors include:

• Sex (males are at a greater risk)
• age
• if you have a history of heart disease in your family
• Race (Caucasians are least likely to have heart disease)
• If you are post menopausal

It is important to note that there are many controllable factors in heart disease prevention. You can reduce your risk by doing the following:

• Stop smoking - smokers are at more than twice the risk on non smokers
  
  
• Increase your "good" cholesterol (HDL) and decrease your "bad" cholesterol (LDL) This can be done through diet or medication, if necessary
  
  
• Lower blood pressure - This can be done with a healthy, regular exercise and medication, if needed.
  
  
• Become more physically active - get moving and aim for 30 minutes a day of aerobic activity
  
  
• Lose body fat - if you are more than 20% over your ideal weight it -puts strain on your organs increasing your risk
  
  
• Control diabetes with diet and medication
  
  
• Reduce stress - try massage, yoga or practice relaxation

Healthy habits are the best way to avoid getting this illness. Start early and make it a lifelong commitment.