Winter Heart Health: Adopting a healthy lifestyle at any age can prevent heart disease and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Heart health in winter: Strokes and heart attacks are more common during the winter months. When the outside temperature drops, your body temperature also drops, forcing your heart to beat faster to stay warm. Sometimes people experience or even die from sudden cardiac arrest, the sudden and unexpected end to all cardiac activity due to extremely intense workouts. Breathing and blood flow stop within seconds, and the person loses consciousness and dies. These conditions can be reversed while you lead a normal life with simple and effective ways to keep your heart healthy. Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Dev B. Pahlajani shares four ways to keep your heart health in check.
4 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR HEART HEALTH IN CONTROL IN WINTER:
- Keep your blood pressure under control: A significant risk factor for heart disease is high blood pressure. A blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher is generally considered high. When your blood pressure stays within acceptable limits, you reduce the burden of heart, arterial, and kidney failure by an average of 14.1 years. The heart, arteries, and kidneys work less when blood pressure is within healthy limits. Devices such as an aneroid monitor, digital monitor, blood pressure monitor smartwatches, and wearable devices can be used.
- Maintain blood sugar levels: 65% of people with diabetes die from a certain heart condition or stroke. Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage the heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves. One should try to maintain a blood sugar level of less than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L), which is normal. If you are 45 or older, you should see your doctor for a heart health checkup. A person with diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, should also keep track of blood sugar levels with a glucometer.
- Strengthen heart health: Exercise helps maintain healthy blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and body weight. Try to exercise at a moderate intensity for optimal results and schedule weekly workouts. You can also decide to go for a 30-minute walk every day. This will help you reduce the risk of developing heart disorders.
- Check the pulse rate: Heart rate measurement is a simple technique to assess your health, as it offers a real-time view of how your heart muscle is working. A normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute for most adults. An abnormally high or low resting heart rate may indicate a problem. People use portable EKGs, 7L patches, and smart watches to measure their heart rate and consult doctors in the comfort of their homes.
All those who are at risk of developing heart disease and its complications have a lot to look forward to thanks to technological advances that prioritize maintaining heart health.
