Healthy Living ::

Patients have four primary options to address their cardiovascular conditions:

1. Lifestyle changes
2. Medication
3. Interventional heart catheterization
4. Surgery

Lifestyle is the easiest and in many patients, the most important way to improve their cardiovascular health. Each person's cardiac condition and risk factors determine what lifestyle regimens are needed. For instance, patients with high blood cholesterol most effectively benefit from dietary improvements and aerobic exercise.

Reducing stress and quitting smoking rank among the most important health improvements that can be made in anyone, especially a current or potentially at-risk cardiac patient.

Among health-improving lifestyle changes, patients have three primary options. A combination of two or more often prove the most effective:

• Diet
• Exercise
• Stress Reduction

Diet

For better or worse, the adage that "you are what you eat" holds truth for cardiac patients and those at-risk. Fast foods, fried items and processed meals (including many frozen "easy" foods) are often extremely high in fat, calories and sodium (salt), three potentially severe detriments to good health.

1. To lose weight and reduce body fat index, diets low in fat and empty calories (little or no nutritional value, like sodas and alcoholic beverages) are the most effective.
2. To reduce blood cholesterol levels, reducing fats and increasing natural fiber intake (fruits and vegetables) work well.
3. To improve high blood pressure, reducing sodium food intake and additional salt (sprinkling at the table), can produce desired results.

Exercise

Unfortunately, most Americans lack appropriate measures of cardiovascular conditioning. A sedentary lifestyle void of routine exercise or sports participation can lead to poor health and cardiac problems, especially when combined with an improper diet. Resulting weight gain, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol can prove deadly, but if addressed early enough, can be reversed and controlled.

Regular aerobic exercise, such as walking, increases energy, stamina and attitude, which ultimately can improve cardiac health. With time and determination, a person committed to improving their health with routine exercise and a steady, healthy diet can achieve wonderful results.

Before beginning any type of physical exercise program, see your physician and follow the recommendations based on your age, health and ability. To avoid potential injuries, start with appropriate stretching and gradually increase activity level and/or length. A healthy exercise program should not be difficult, painful or complex. A regimen that raises your heart rate for at least 20 minutes, three times per week, can provide tremendous benefits.

Stress Reduction

As contemporary living brings technological advances and other seemingly endless "improvements," the resulting stresses of a rush-filled, do-it-now lifestyle can be amplified.

The body reacts to stress by producing adrenaline, a hormone that prepares our body to cope with danger through what is often referred to as "fight or flight." As adrenaline increases, so does the heart and breathing rate, preparing the body to fight for survival or flee from danger. Unfortunately, these responses to the stress of everyday life cause our bodily processes to unnaturally accelerate.

To minimize the effect of our body's reaction to stress, we have two choices: eliminate the stress or minimize reaction. Elimination is often impossible, but learning to control reactions through relaxation techniques and improvements in health and exercise (see above) can significantly improve a person's health and well-being.