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Heart disease. Hearing these words is never easy, but we also want to point out that they don’t necessarily signal a point of no return. You can make adjustments to safeguard your health and prevent or slow your heart disease from becoming life-altering or life-threatening.
If you want to join the millions of people who are leading happy and productive lives despite a heart disease diagnosis, Dr. James Kim and our team present a few tips that can help you take control of your life.
Before we get into our tips for living with heart disease, we want to briefly explain this category of illness. Heart disease refers to several conditions including:
Of this list, CAD is the most common, affecting more than 20 million adults in the United States. All together, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the nation for both men and women, but that doesn’t mean you’re helpless in trying to prevent this outcome.
Once you receive your heart diagnosis, we want you to view it as a wake-up call to take prompt and swift action. While your heart disease may have developed over many years, any steps you take moving forward to manage or slow the progression are well worth your while.
To give you an idea about where to start, we present four key tips for living with heart disease:
This first tip may sound a little self-serving, but it’s extremely important. When you have heart disease, it’s critical to have an experienced cardiovascular expert like Dr. Kim oversee your health.
Dr. Kim can prescribe medications to manage your heart disease and perform certain procedures, such as a cardiac catheterization. As important, he monitors your heart health closely, allowing us to catch — and mitigate — potential problems.
This is a term we use for programs for people who’ve had a heart attack. More and more, we’re viewing this service as a preventive tool, as well. You can equate this to physical therapy after an injury.
In this case, we provide you with a prescription and you see a physiologist who specializes in boosting your heart health.
Let’s face it, stress is in abundant supply these days. The effects of ongoing stress on your physical health, including your cardiovascular health, can be significant.
Stress can raise your heart rate and your blood pressure and place your body in an inflammatory state that affects your cardiovascular health. So, reducing stress in your life is not only good for your heart disease, but your overall wellness.
There are many different techniques for reducing stress, from meditation to exercise, and we suggest you find a way that works for you.
The odds are fairly good that your diet may have contributed to your heart disease, so now it’s time to focus on heart-healthy foods.
One idea: Swap out all of those fatty, processed foods in favor of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Also called the Mediterranean diet, here’s some more information on this healthy way of eating.
With the right medical team in your corner and some key lifestyle adjustments, you can take the teeth out of your heart disease and enjoy life to its fullest.
For a more customized plan to manage your heart disease, please contact us at one of our offices in Chula Vista or National City, California, to schedule an appointment
