Keep The Ticker Ticking

December 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Collage of varius Gray's muscle pictures by Mi...
Image via Wikipedia

While all the muscles in the body work together to keep us moving and shaking, one of the most important muscles is the heart. The heart works hard to keep the body fueled, and we need to take care of it. Exercise is wonderful. A good brisk walk not only clears the mind, it makes us feel good. At the same time, we are exercising that very important muscle in the middle of the chest, the heart. Keeping stress down is important to a healthy heart, and hence, a healthier life. An extremely important part of heart health is obviously, the diet.

Eating the right foods, in the right combination, at the right time of day, is a huge step towards a healthy heart, and a healthier you. The truth is that healthier choices can please the palate as well as the heart. While a breakfast of bacon and eggs is fine sometimes, substituting that breakfast meal with some whole grain cereal and fresh fruit will make your heart very happy, and you will be healthier. Substitute a healthy breakfast more often during the week, say four to six times a week, and your heart is a happy little muscle.

Keep yourself active. One does not have to run the Boston Marathon on a monthly basis to keep the heart healthy. A nice brisk walk a couple of times a week makes a huge difference. Not only will you be exercising your heart, you will be exercising your body, which will also reap the benefits. Tighter muscles work better, make us less tired, and we will be less likely to sit on the couch and grab a bag of chips.

Our hearts will hopefully keep us living for a very long time. If we take good care of it, the chances are that the heart will take care of us well into our golden years.

Filed Under: Heart Care, Heart Surgeons, Surgery Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Choosing The Right Doctor

December 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment

You have been diagnosed with heart disease. Those two words alone can mean something as minor as a heart beat flutter to full blown blocked arteries and need for surgery. How do you find out what the next step is? Who is the right professional for your needs?

If a baby is born with a heart problem, the professionals will probably be called in right at the time of birth, and these specialists and their colleagues will determine exactly what needs to be done and who is the best specialist for that. Heart disease will need to be followed throughout the child’s life, thus setting up lifelong heart care. If you have never had heart disease, and begin to have symptoms, you would probably start with your family doctor. Yearly physicals are so important for catching heart disease at its earliest and making the treatment of heart disease work the best for you. You may just be starting to have some high blood pressure. Your physician will tell you to exercise more, eat healthier and he may prescribe some blood pressure medication, which you may be on for a lifetime. Taken properly and taking care of yourself can keep this particular heart disease in check forever.

If it something more involved, your family doctor will send you to a heart doctor, or cardiologist. Your cardiologist may handle your issues with just medication if that is all that is necessary or you may need another step. Further testing may be involved, or even surgery. The cardiologist will then send you to a cardiac surgeon, who will do whatever is necessary to diagnose the proper issue with your particular heart. From there you may be sent to another specialist, as the study of the heart and those who have made it their life’s work are vast and varied. Do your research. With the right guidance from your doctors, your heart will be in good hands.

Filed Under: Heart Care, Heart Surgeons, Surgery Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Walk Yourself Healthy

December 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Icon from Nuvola icon theme for KDE 3.x.
Image via Wikipedia

You have been diagnosed with heart disease. The cardiology professionals have told you what you need to do. If you have had surgery, you need to let your body heal. If you are taking medicine, you should be taking it properly, as directed. After the major event and the healing has occurred, you now are more aware than ever that you have to take better care of yourself. There are the obvious things, no smoking, keep drinking to a minimum, get your weight under control. You know that these things need to be done. In taking care of your heart remember one thing, the heart is a muscle.

If your leg muscles were sore, you would rest them and then you would exercise them, so that the next time you overdid it a little, there would be no pain. You can exercise your heart in really much the same way. Walking is one of the best ways to exercise your heart. Nobody loves exercise, well maybe Richard Simmons loves exercise. Most of us do it because there is a goal. A goal of a healthy heart should be more than enough motivation to want to exercise more.

It is said that a home walking program can be as beneficial as hospital directed cardiac rehabilitation. Have a check-up to make sure walking for exercise is safe. Start out slow, pick up the pace as you go along and slow it down at the end. Use a pedometer and try adding 2,000 steps to your daily walk, gradually increasing as you go. Walk with friends, walk on your lunch break, or put on your trusty MP3 player and walk to your favorite tunes. Doing this just 30 minutes a day five times a week will be of great benefit to your heart. You will feel so much better, it might even make you want to make other changes to better your health.

Filed Under: Heart Care, Heart Surgeons, Surgery Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

I Believe In Music

December 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Heart disease; no one wants it and if it is diagnosed, there are many ways to make it better, or at least get a handle on it in your life. When heart disease is diagnosed a patient may need surgery. If it is a type of heart disease that can be handled with medicine, the cardiologist will prescribe the proper medication. At the same time your heart doctor will probably recommend a healthier lifestyle. He will tell you to take better care of yourself. Even if you are a person who does take care of yourself, you don’t smoke, you are not overweight, you do not drink and your cholesterol is under control, heart disease can affect you. So you take inventory and decide anything in your life that is not good for your heart may need an adjustment. Cut down on your stress, lighten your work load if possible and slow down.

The medical treatments are obvious, but there are many other ways we can help our bodies stay free of heart disease, or keep it from becoming more serious. Music has been proven an affective way to do just that. Research suggests that music therapy can reduce your blood pressure, a big culprit in heart disease. Music can also slow your heart rate and ease anxiety. A study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine showed that when people listened to joyful music, chosen by them because it made them feel good, their blood vessels dilated and there was increased blood flow to the heart. This is significant in that stricture to the vessels can have the opposite effect, chest pain and even a heart attack.

Choose soothing music, music that makes you feel good. Depressing music will not make you feel better. Take some time for yourself, put on those headphones and soothe your aching heart.

Filed Under: Heart Care, Heart Surgeons, Surgery Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

And The Beat Goes On

December 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Statistics show that a beating heart is evident in a fetus 22 to 23 days after conception. The baby will not be born for another seven or eight months, and yet the heart is already doing its job. From the time our heart begins beating until the time it stops, it has one of the most important jobs in our body. The heart pumps the blood to all the other organs, the heart regulates the flow so that our body has exactly what it needs all of the time. At the very least, we need to be taking good care of that all important organ.

Most people do not give heart health a second thought, until they need to. We should be taking care of our hearts so that we never need to see a heart specialist. Unfortunately once heart damage is done, most of the time it cannot be reversed. It can be treated and dealt with, but not reversed. Take charge of your heart health before anything happens to make you.

We all know that we should not be abusing our bodies. Maybe it is time to stop talking about it and start doing it. Stop smoking, it is terribly harmful to most of our body, but especially to the heart. Smoking blocks arteries, the all important pathways for transporting the blood to our heart so that it can do its work. To block the pathway is to cause heart disease. Try to take off the extra weight. Carrying around extra weight puts a strain on the heart, making its job more difficult, thereby slowing us down and beginning the process of heart disease. Do not take any illicit drugs. Obviously putting something into your body that does not belong there can cause a myriad of problems.

Take care of your heart, so that the beat can go on, and on, and on.

Filed Under: Heart Care, Heart Surgeons, Surgery Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Importance of Exercise and a Healthy Heart

November 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Marine of the United States Marine Corps runs ...
Image via Wikipedia

Did you know that exercise can be good for you? By just adding a 30-minute walk, five times a week a person can lessen their chance of a heart attack, obesity and stroke. However the most important part of your body, the heart, gets the most benefit from exercise. Exercise gets the blood flowing throughout the body, clears out bad substances in the body that could surround the heart and lowers blood pressure and cholesterol.

There has been a massive amount of information aimed at the ability to inform the public about the importance of adding exercise to a person’s daily routine. There are public service ads, announcements on the radio, Internet and TV as stories from celebrities talking about how they got fit, as well as reality shows showing the benefits of exercise. It is all done in an effort to get people excited about working out.

Surprisingly with all these media and medical campaigns going on the public is listening. Gym memberships are on the rise, apartment complexes and assisted living facilities are being encouraged to add gyms and people are being rewarded for walking and exercising on their own free time by employers and corporations all over.

It might appear to some that all of these efforts are a way to get people geared up to spend more money on gym memberships, and to promote businesses that focus on exercise and fitness. But the truth is that exercise can really help save a person’s life and the media and medical community is simply trying to spread the word about exercise and the importance of a healthy heart. If it takes a little bit of encouragement and inspiration to save a person’s life by getting them to start exercising, it is well worth it because exercise really could add 10 years to a person’s life.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Exercise, General Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Understanding Heart Health Numbers

November 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

We are all aware of those heart-health numbers that we are all trying to maintain. Those numbers that can help us either maintain or reduce our risks of developing cardiovascular disease. Waist size, cholesterol levels and blood pressure are all numbers that we need to know, and perhaps we need to improve. Even a small improvement in these numbers can drastically decrease the risk for heart disease. So just exactly what do these numbers mean?

Blood Pressure
There are two numbers that make up a blood pressure reading: the systolic pressure and the diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure is the amount of pressure of blood on the walls of your arteries when the heart is pumping blood out. The diastolic pressure measures the same thing when the heart is filling with blood. It is important to note that you need to have both numbers be in the normal range.

Approximately 74 million Americans suffers from high blood pressure and the number of deaths has increased since 1996 by about 48 percent.

Cholesterol
There are three different types of cholesterol: HDL, triglycerides and LDL. When combined together these number produce a lipid profile, but the individual numbers are very important. LDL is the one that most heart specialists’ focus because each time this number decreases you are making an important step in decrease your risk levels.

Waist Size
Measuring your waist is even more important that knowing your body mass index or even your weight. This is due to the fact that waist size is a good predictor of heart disease risks. Women with a waist size of 35 inches or more and men with a waist of 40 or more inches are at a higher risk for developing cardiovascular diseases. Even just a loss of one inch will also create an improvement in all other numbers for heart health.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Fitness, Heart Care Tagged With: , ,

Walking Toward Heart Health

October 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
blood pressure measurement
Image via Wikipedia

Did you know that if you are overweight or are experiencing high blood pressure, simply walking each day could help improve these conditions? An annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) presented that message recently.

A study out of Korea says that simply walking about 40 minutes each day can lower blood pressure. Another study from the United States, states that people who are morbidly obese can benefit from a daily walk.

The Korean study researched men with prehypertension or hypertension. The subject’s blood pressure was read after they engaged in a 40-minute walk and four, 10-minute walks at a brisk level. The blood pressure readings of the subjects dropped after each type of walking session — dropping between 3 and 5 points. While researchers admit that more research is they believe that benefits can be sustained if the exercise level is maintained.

The head researcher of the Korean study says that the two variations on the walking routine gives people a choice. She says that some of us like to get our exercise done in one session, while others may benefit from small chunks of exercise time.

The Korean study’s findings are in agreement with the recommendations of the ACSM that says that adults should exercise moderately five days a week for at least 30 minutes. The ACSM agrees that this 30-minute timeframe can be broken up into lesser times.

Other researchers recommend alternating other physical activities such as biking or swimming with the walking routine. They say that other muscles can get a work out as well as reducing the risk of overuse or injury.

The U.S. study showed that walking helps get morbidly obese people’s heart rates up to a point where it is a benefit to heart health.

So indications from these studies say that walking is good for the heart!

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Exercise, Heart Care Tagged With: , ,

Exercise For Heart Health

October 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment
A public demonstration of aerobic exercises
Image via Wikipedia

If you lead an inactive or sedentary type of life, you may be putting yourself at risk for cardiovascular (heart) disease. Luckily it is something that can easy rectified. It’s as simple as starting and maintaining a regular exercises routine. Exercising, especially those that are aerobic-based, is very beneficial and can:

–Make your heart and cardiovascular system stronger
–Help your body get more oxygen through improving your circulatory system.
–Help increase your energy. You will be able to engage in more activities without feeling tired.
–Lower your blood pressure.
–You will feel better about yourself and your self-esteem will improve.
–Help you sleep better.
–Make your physical appearance more healthy and fit.

You should always ask your physician’s advice before you begin any new programs of exercise. Things to keep in mind included new medications that can affect your exercise program. Also make sure that you are able to perform heavy lifting activities. And makes sure your doctor has cleared any exercise program that may include weight lifting, jogging or swimming.

You may wonder what kind of exercises is going to produce the best results. Stretching and warm up exercises will help your body prepare for exercise activities as well as helping to prevent injury. These stretching exercises will also increase flexibility.

Aerobic exercises are perhaps the best for preventing heart disease because they strengthen the lungs and heart as well as the circulatory system. Long-term aerobic exercise programs can also help your heart rate and blood pressure. Examples of these exercises include bicycling, walking, jogging and cross-country skiing.

A strength training program will help you gain strength, but due to its very rigorous application, may not be suitable for people who have heart disease or heart failure.

Again, make sure you check with your physician before you start a new exercise program.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Exercise, Heart Care Tagged With: , ,