Strategies to
prevent heart disease
A
healthy lifestyle contributes significantly to effective heart care. In
particular, this includes sufficient physical activity and a healthy diet. In
addition to these aspects of a healthy lifestyle, it can also make sense to
suppress the outbreak of a heart disease with medication in some cases - for
people at high risk for cardiovascular diseases - in the context of
cardiovascular disease.
Every
family doctor is required to determine the cardiovascular risk of his patients.
Every patient should know their risk of developing cardiovascular disease. If
necessary, he can discuss an individual risk reduction strategy with his
doctor.
Heart
care with physical activity
A
metabolic equivalent (MET) corresponds approximately to the oxygen intake when
sitting still (3.5 ml / kg / min). Athletes can easily increase their oxygen
intake by 10 to 15 times and accordingly reach 10 - 15 MET. On the other hand,
untrained people often stay at <8 MET.
Physical
training that increases performance by 1 MET already leads to a 20% risk
reduction in cardiovascular diseases. This effect is also observed in
overweight people. Overweight people with good cardiovascular performance live
longer than overweight people with poor performance.
The
same applies to the causal risk factors. A diabetic can significantly reduce
his cardiovascular risk through physical training. Of course, physical training
also helps to reduce body weight and keep it in the desired area in the long
term. The blood pressure values decrease. Also, physical exercise in people
with low blood sugar levels is an extremely effective way to prevent the onset
of overt blood sugar.
It's
not about exhausting yourself to the point of exhaustion. Rather, the aim
should be a load that is not too strong but even. Fast walking or careful
jogging, cycling and swimming are good reasons to name just a few. This
activity should be done 3-4 times a week for at least 30 minutes. For fast
walking, 120-140 minutes per week are sufficient to noticeably increase
performance and reduce the cardiovascular risk.
Healthy
nutrition for heart prevention
A
balanced, healthy diet has important positive effects on body weight, blood fat
and blood sugar levels and, at least indirectly, even on blood pressure.
Overall, there are some principles that make healthy eating easier. This
includes that you can go crazy if it happens only occasionally and as part of
an otherwise balanced diet.
On
the other hand, there is certainly no contradiction between tasty and healthy.
In many cases you will enjoy a fruit salad rather than a chocolate bar. But it
takes a little more time.
Although
the number of heart diseases has declined significantly in the past 10 years,
which is partly due to the improved possibilities of medicine and technology,
but also with prevention (including healthy eating, exercise), about 25% of all
deaths are still present Attributed to heart disease. Improper nutrition plays
an important role in heart diseases, e.g. found that the risk of heart disease
is higher for people who eat a lot of saturated fat and little fresh fruit and
vegetables.
Prevent
atherosclerosis
In
the case of diseases of the heart, there is usually arteriosclerosis (fatty
arteries and hardening of the arteries), a vascular change that develops over a
long period (20 - 30 years) and does not cause any symptoms at first.
Atherosclerosis
development is accelerated by risk factors such as
Overweight,
Smoke,
Diabetes
mellitus and
High
blood pressure.
The
best way to prevent arteriosclerosis is to eat a healthy, balanced diet. These
include unsaturated fatty acids, i.e. especially vegetable fats and lots of
fiber. Studies show that vegetarians are less at risk of cardiovascular disease
than people who eat meat. Therefore, avoiding meat can reduce the formation of
arteriosclerosis.
Physical
exercise is also particularly important. Rather half an hour 3 times a week
than 3 hours once a week.
Prevent
elevated cholesterol
A
distinction is made between cholesterol between HDL ("good"
cholesterol) and LDL ("bad" cholesterol).
Cholesterol
is found in all human and animal cells and is involved in cell building, the
production of hormones, the formation of bile acids and the formation of
vitamin D. And yet cholesterol plays a major role in the development of
arteriosclerosis. High cholesterol levels are not only caused by improper
nutrition, but are often also based on an interaction of behaviours (little
exercise, wrong diet) and genetic dispositions. You can achieve a lot through a
healthy diet.
It
is very important to exclude or reduce the risk factors. I.e. Reduce obesity
with a balanced, varied, low-calorie diet, stop smoking and properly treat
diabetes and high blood pressure. Because reducing risk factors almost always
lowers the high cholesterol level “on its own”.
With
a reduction of 2mg / dl cholesterol, a risk reduction of 2% is achieved. Blood
pressure drops by 2 mm / Hg per kilogram of weight reduction. So it is worth
living healthy. If the cholesterol levels are too high in the long term, the
cholesterol (mainly LDL) can accumulate on the arterial walls over time and
eventually lead to a total occlusion of the artery. Heart attack! But you can
prevent this in part with the help of a healthy diet.
What
is the right diet?
50%
of the daily energy, the basis of a healthy diet, should consist of
carbohydrates: whole grains and whole grain products, bread, pasta, rice and
potatoes are ideal.
15%
of the daily energy should be covered by low-fat protein carriers such as fish,
low-fat cheese (F.i.Tr. <30%), low-fat milk products (<1.5%) and low-fat
sausage.
30%
of your daily energy should consist of fat, but: Fat is not just fat. Saturated
fatty acids, i.e. Animal fats, such as butter, lard, cream should be greatly
reduced, as they negatively affect the cholesterol level (lower HDL, increase
LDL).
The
daily drinking amount should be between 1.5 and 2.0 litres, e.g. Mineral water,
herbal and fruit teas.
The
daily intake of cholesterol that is taken in through food should not exceed 300
mg, i.e. as little animal fat and food as possible. Vegetable fats are better,
such as the monounsaturated fatty acids e.g. Olive oil and rapeseed oil
(increase HDL, lower total cholesterol) and the polyunsaturated fatty acids
such as sunflower oil, safflower oil, walnut oil (lower total cholesterol),
which have a positive effect on cholesterol levels.
Even
if our cholesterol level is positively influenced by oils, you should not use
too much, since oils also contain many calories and, if consumed too often,
promote excess weight.
How
can a heart-healthy diet be designed?
·
As
little animal fat as possible.
·
The
highest possible proportion of vegetable fats.
·
Especially
monounsaturated fatty acids (olive / rapeseed oil).
·
Less
than 300 mg total cholesterol / day.
·
As
much fiber as possible (> 30g / day).
·
Little
sugar and sugary.
·
Salt
little, rather use lots of herbs / spices.
·
Lots
of fruit, vegetables and salad.
·
Drink
a lot.
·
Take
time to eat.
If
you take these points into account in your daily diet, you have a varied,
healthy and tasty diet that protects the heart and health and contributes to
daily well-being.
Stop
smoking
Smoking
is extremely harmful to the body. This applies to both cardiovascular and
cancer diseases. The risk of developing cardiovascular disease is 2 to 3 times
higher on average for a smoker than for a non-smoker. The risk is even higher
with heavy smoking. Cardiovascular diseases typically break out earlier in
smokers.
Young
people who suffer from cardiovascular diseases, especially women, are almost
always smokers and would stay free of the disease for longer - perhaps lifelong
- without smoking. If smoking is stopped, the cardiovascular risk decreases by
40-50%. Unfortunately, this often only happens when a heart attack or stroke
with unavoidable damage has already occurred.
Smoking
is not a pleasure, but an addiction. Unfortunately, many children and
adolescents still use cigarettes, so that their vascular system is exposed to
severe stress very early on. Blood clots develop and the blood vessels age
prematurely. They become susceptible to diseases and tend to calcify.
