Risk factors:
The commonest risk factors that result in heart disease can be divided into modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. The modifiable risk factors are diabetes, high BP, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet. The non-modifiable risk factors are age, and genetics. It's important to know about the non-modifiable risk factors as having these would put you in a high risk group, and it becomes all the more important to address the modifiable risk factors.
Exercise regime:
The advancements in scientific and technological worlds have ensured that most of us work desk jobs or jobs which involve very little physical exertion. Everyone work in busy schedules with long working hours and working late into the night. There is not much time for regular physical exercise. This results in sedentary lifestyle and the associated metabolic syndrome. It is very important to inculcate a regime of physical exercise into the daily routine. The important factor here is to do some form of exercise regimen which can be followed for a long time (years). Most of us hit the gym and go on a rigorous exercise routine only to stop it all in 2-3 months. One suggestion is to try and make physical activity a social occasion with friends. This will help us to make this a long term activity as we would be enjoying the company and there would be motivation from each other. We should try and get 45 mins to an hour of exercise at least five times a week. Commonly done cardio exercises are brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, treadmill or any sport like badminton, cricket and football. Patients with history of cardiovascular diseases should consult their cardiologist prior to commencing an exercise regime. Also, anyone over 40 years starting an exercise regime newly should get their heart checked prior to commencing.
Dietary Habits:
Good eating habits will help in a long way to reduce the risk of heart disease and control of risk factors like diabetes, high BP and high cholesterol. Reducing salt intake is very important in controlling blood pressure. An Ideal diet will be rich in vegetables and fruit with balanced quantities of carbohydrate, fat and protein. One easy way to eat healthy is to stop eating outside food and try to eat home cooked food most times. We should realize that outside food is either rich in sweet, salt or oil and most of these foods are unfit for consumption after a few hours. At home, we should avoid fried food and sweets. We should make small adjustments to our eating habits rather than going on a strict diet regime which we would not follow for a long time. We should try and eat tasty but healthy food. This is more likely to happen with home cooked food. The quantity of oil in our food is more important than the type of oil. Anything in excess is not good.
Smoking:
Smoking is probably the most important risk factor that can be totally avoided. Quitting smoking has an effect similar to or more than any advanced heart treatments like angioplasty. Continuing smoking after heart surgery leads more often to failure of treatment with blocked grafts or blocked stents. The benefits of quitting smoking are really worthwhile the effort. We should take expert help to achieve this at all costs. There is benefit in quitting, even if someone has smoked for a long time.
Health Check:
Anyone above the age of 30 years should undergo regular screening to identify risk factor like diabetes, high BP and high cholesterol. These conditions are asymptomatic in the early stages, and delay in diagnosis can result in irreversible damage. Anyone with the risk factors or over the age of 40 years should undergo cardiac health screening once a year. Commonly conducted tests are ECG, echocardiography and treadmill test. These tests allow identifying high risk patients so that treatment can be commenced at an early stage.
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