A healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack. Above all, a balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, sufficient exercise in the fresh air and as little stress as possible are important. Vessel killer No. 1 here is smoking!
Self-test: How healthy is my heart?
To get an initial indication of how healthy your heart is, answer “yes” or “no” to the following questions.
- Are you often under stress and/or pressure to perform?
- Are you often exposed to major physical stress?
- Are you a smoker?
- Do you suffer from hypertension (permanently >140/90 mm Hg at rest)?
- Are you overweight (BMI >25)?
- Are you over 40 years old?
- Do you exercise less than once a week?
- Do you drink more than one glass of alcohol a day?
- Are your blood glucose levels elevated (higher than 120 mg/dl when fasting)?
- Are there any heart attack and/or stroke patients in your family?
You have answered “yes” to more than five questions? Then you should definitely do more for your health and seek advice from your doctor or pharmacist. To detect existing heart disease, a comprehensive medical examination is always necessary.
Control is the best precaution for your heart!
Pay attention to your blood pressure, blood lipid levels as well as your blood sugar levels; have them checked regularly by your doctor. These three factors, together with weight, are the most important influencing variables for the heart – if they are elevated, we speak of the deadly quartet, which massively increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Blood pressure factor
One of the most important risk factors is high blood pressure (hypertension). In a healthy adult, blood pressure at rest is 120/80 mm Hg; above 140/90 mm Hg, it is referred to as high blood pressure.
The heart must then permanently pump blood into the vessels against the excessively high pressure. This increases the oxygen demand of the heart, and an undersupply can occur, which can lead to a heart attack.
Factor cholesterol and blood lipids
Excessive cholesterol levels are determined – in addition to predisposition and lack of exercise – primarily by the choice and quantity of fatty foods.
Elevated blood fat levels do not cause immediate discomfort, but they can lead to serious long-term damage to health: Fat and cholesterol are deposited on the vessel walls, narrowing the blood vessels (plaques) and thus increasing the risk of arteriosclerosis. LDL cholesterol in particular plays a major role here.
Factor blood glucose
An elevated blood glucose level (diabetes mellitus) also damages the blood vessels and promotes the calcification of the coronary arteries. To prevent these and other secondary diseases, diabetes patients should ensure that their blood sugar is set correctly.
Values of up to 110 mg/dl are considered normal for fasting blood glucose. Overweight people have an increased risk of developing diabetes.
