Prevention Guidelines of Heart Disease

As you plan to take steps to prevent or lower your risk of heart disease, there are some important numbers you need to keep in mind. We all know we need to exercise and observe our blood pressure, cholesterol and weight to keep our heart and cardiovascular system healthy. But expressive your target numbers provides a concrete way of monitoring your progress towards that vital goal.

The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) have put out heart disease prevention guidelines, which were co-published in the Circulation Journal as well as the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Here is a summary of the guidelines:

Blood Pressure :

• Less than 130/80 mm Hg if you have diabetes or chronic kidney disease
• Less than 140/90 mm Hg.

Blood Cholesterol :

• LDL (Low-density lipoprotein, or bad cholesterol) of less than 100 mg/dL
• Reduce intake of soaked fats, trans fats and cholesterol and add plant sterols and soluble fiber to diet,take omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil capsule form.

Physical Activity :

• 30 minutes a day, 5-7 days a week.
• Conflict training 2 days a week.

Weight :

• BMI (Body mass index) measure of body fat based on height and weight of 18.5 to 24.
•  Waist limits of less than 40 inches for men; less than 35 inches for women
  Diabetes.
• HbA1C (measure of glycated hemoglobin in the blood) of less than 7 percent.

Smoking :

• Zero revelation to first-hand or second hand smoke

Health and fitness Tips: Keeping Diabetes Under Control

Whether you need to lose weight, gain weight or stay wherever you are, if you're diabetic, eating the right food can help you manage the disease.
People with diabetes must take more care to make sure that their diet is balanced with insulin and oral medications, and to exercise to help manage their blood glucose levels, says the American Diabetes Association. Sticking to a meal plan can help you get better your blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, and also help keep your weight on track.
This might sound like a lot of work, but your doctor or dietitian can help you make a meal plan that is best for you, one that fits into your schedule and lifestyle. When you make healthy food choices, you will improve your overall health, and you can even help prevent complications such as heart disease, some cancers, and hypertension.

Metabolic Syndrome Doubles Heart Risk, Analysis Shows

The combination of metabolic syndrome risk factors -- including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and insulin resistance -- increases the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. And about 25 percent of American adults have metabolic syndrome, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

In the new analysis, researchers examined more than 70 recent studies that included a total of nearly one million patients. The investigators found that people with metabolic syndrome are up to 2.5 times more likely to die of heart-related causes and to have heart disease, a heart attack or stroke, compared to people without the syndrome.
"Ultimately, population-level interventions such as New York City's ban on trans-fats are needed to decrease the number of people with the metabolic syndrome and their corresponding cardiovascular risk," Eisenberg said in the news release.

Indication of Heart Attack, Stroke Risk From Fat-Filled Artery

A quantity of factors put patients with irregular fatty deposits in an artery at high risk for heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death, a new study shows. Patients in different stages of this condition atherothrombosis  are at enlarged risk for heart attack and stroke stemming from cheap blood flow from the artery blockage, but some are at better risk than others. In an analysis of more than 45,000 patients, the researchers found that patients with abnormal fatty deposits in an artery were at highest risk if they had a prior history of heart attack or other emergencies linked to an artery blockage.
Reduction of the arteries in various locations also greatly increased the risk for patients with atherothrombosis, as did diabetes for all the patients even those with only the risk factors for atherothrombosis.
Perceptive that these factors boost the risk can help physicians take preventive action, according to the researchers, who are from the VA Boston Healthcare System, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
The researchers analyzed data from 45,227 patients enrolled in an worldwide study known as Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) between 2003 and 2004. They collected detailed information from the patients when they enrolled and conducted follow-ups one, two, three and four years later.
They establish that 81.3 percent of the patients had hypertension, 70.4 percent had high cholesterol levels in the blood, and 15.9 percent had polyvascular disease. In adding, 48.4 percent of the patients had "ischemic events" prior heart attacks, unstable angina or other problems related to the artery blockage, with 28.1 percent of those patients having had such an event within the previous year.
During the follow-up period, 2,315 patients suffered cardiovascular death, 1,228 had a heart attack, 1,898 had a stroke, and 40 had a heart attack and a stroke on the similar day.
The researchers establish that patients with atherothrombosis with a previous history of heart attacks and other events related to a blood vessel blockage had the highest rate of following cardiac emergencies linked to blood flow problems. Patients with stable heart, cerebrovascular or peripheral route disease had a lower risk, while the risk was lowest amongst those with risk factors for atherothrombosis but without established disease.
The results show that "there is a entire spectrum of [emergencies relating to artery blockage and blood flow] in patients with risk factors or with recognized cardiovascular disease easily ascertainable clinical characteristics are the famous factors associated with a high risk of future ischemic events," they fulfilled.