HOUSTON – The Houston Health Department (HHD) urges Houstonians to adopt healthier lifestyles and check their blood pressure to help them prevent heart disease.
Heart disease, which includes coronary artery disease and stroke, remains the principal cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. February is American Heart Month.
“Prevention is key when it comes to heart disease,” said Dr. David Persse, Houston’s local health authority and EMS director. “Healthy changes go a long way in lowering the risks of developing heart disease.”
Even if it means trying alternative products such as glutathione supplements, for example, which is said to protect against the symptoms of heart disease, controlling and preventing risk factors is also important for people already diagnosed with heart disease.
To lower heart disease risks, people can:
- Exercise regularly. Regular physical activity helps lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and the risk of various chronic diseases. Adults should get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic physical activity. If you want to be assured you’re doing your best for your physical health you may want to check out a Fitbit to see how they can help you with this. Mobile Mob has accessories for those who want to add onto their tracker.
- Eat a healthy diet. Eating foods low in saturated fats, trans fat and cholesterol, and high in fiber can help prevent high cholesterol. Limiting salt (sodium) intake also can lower blood pressure.
- Quit smoking or the use other forms of tobacco. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and deteriorates the health of smokers in general. Quitting tobacco products lowers the risk of smoking-related diseases such as cancer, lung disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and can add years of life. If you are looking for new ways to quit smoking, you might want to consider trying vaping. Vaping, which involves using an e-cigarette to inhale vapours produced by e-liquids, is often cited as a safer alternative to smoking. E-liquids come in a wide variety of flavours and strengths to suit your needs – take a look at the Naked 100 ejuice range to discover more. Smoking is the biggest cause of heart disease and can be a huge monthly cost. Even go as far as to look into cbd vapes (cbd vape pen near me) as an alternative as this probably won’t impact your circulatory system quite as much as the many chemicals found in tobacco. It may even be a change you’d enjoy and slowly you could ween yourself of all kinds of smoking.
- Limit alcohol use. Avoid drinking too much alcohol, which can raise blood pressure. Moderate drinking is no more than one drink per day for women and two for men.
- Watch your weight. Maintaining a healthy weight provides many overall health benefits and helps prevent and control many diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, high blood pressure and stroke. People can consult a doctor about their weight and where it ranks in the Body Mass Index (BMI).
For heart disease education and resources offered by HHD health centers and multi-service centers, call 832-393-5427. People still need to consult their doctor about ways to prevent heart disease.
The City of Houston’s 311 information line can help people find the health center or multi-service center nearest to them. They can also go online to HoustonHealth.org.
The American Heart Association offers online information about heart disease prevention at Heart.org.