YOU AR E P ROBAB LY
well aware that eating a healthy
diet and exercising regularly can help reduce your risk
of heart disease. It’s also important to maintain an
appropriate weight, keep your blood pressure low, and
have healthy cholesterol levels.
But it may surprise you to learn about some other—less
known—things you can do to help keep your heart beating
at a strong and steady pace:
1. Don’t ignore the snore.
Have you been accused
of rattling the windows with your snoring? If so, you may
have a potentially dangerous condition called obstructive
sleep apnea in which you repeatedly stop breathing and
essentially are suffocating for brief periods while you sleep.
This can interrupt your sleep—even if it doesn’t fully wake
you up—and make you drowsy during the day.
It’s important to get help for sleep apnea because it can
raise your risk for heart disease and stroke. A common
treatment for the condition is to wear a special mask that
blows air into your throat, which helps keep your airway
open while you sleep.
2. Practice diabetes damage control.
If you have
diabetes, managing the disease is crucial to help prevent a
long list of serious complications—including heart disease.
Diabetes increases your chances of getting heart disease
at a younger age and for developing more severe forms of
heart disease.
The news isn’t all doom and gloom, however. Many of
the same lifestyle changes that can help prevent heart
disease in people without diabetes can also help you—
including exercising, eating lots of fruits and vegetables,
decreasing the amount of added sugars you eat, and
shedding extra pounds. Working closely with your doctor
and following a diabetes treatment plan to keep good
control of your blood sugars will make a big difference.
3. Ditch the cigarettes—for good.
“When people
think about the health risks of smoking, lung cancer
usually comes to mind. But they may not realize
that smoking also seriously hurts the heart,” says
Melissa McKinney, MD, PeaceHealth Medical Group
Family Medicine.
The more you smoke, the greater your risk of having a
heart attack. Studies show, however, that you can cut your
risk of heart attack in half within a year after quitting.
Talk with your doctor about products and programs that
can help make it easier to permanently break the habit.
Sources: American Academy of Family Physicians; National Institutes of Health
Laugh a little—or
a lot
Too much stress can make your blood pressure go up—along with your risk
for a heart attack. One way to de-stress is to laugh. Find something that tickles
your funny bone and have a good belly laugh that goes straight to your heart.
Sources: American Heart Association; National Institutes of Health
YOU MAY NOT THINK ABOUT THESE RISK FACTORS FOR
HEART DISEASE, BUT THEY DESERVE YOUR ATTENTION
Heart
disease
Melissa McKinney, MD
PeaceHealth Medical
Group Family Medicine
Battle Ground
360-666-3900
Menopause 101: Red Hot Mamas
Hypertension:
The Silent
Killer
When:
Tuesday, Feb. 25
• 6 p.m.: Social time and light
refreshments
• 6:30 to 8 p.m.: Presentation
Where:
HEC
Info:
It used to be thought that
hypertension and other heart
concerns were “men’s issues.”
Actually, women in menopause
are at even greater risk for high
blood pressure than men. As
your natural estrogen levels
wane, your blood pressure can
climb. But you may have no
visible symptoms. That’s why it’s
often referred to as the silent
killer. Learn the risk factors,
symptoms, and prevention
measures for high blood
pressure. We’ll even take your
blood pressure!
Presented by:
Sajeevani Kim, MD, PhD
PeaceHealth Southwest Heart &
Vascular Center Cardiology
First floor, Firstenburg Tower
400 NE Mother Joseph Place
Vancouver, WA 98664
360-514-7755
877-501-5055 (toll-free)
Turn to page 7 for the dates
of our Smoking Cessation 101
class. It’ll give you the tools
to help you quit for good.
4
SOUTHWEST
health
