Like every year, September 29 coincides with World Heart Day. This campaign, promoted by the World Heart Federation, is aimed at informing and raising public awareness on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
In fact, in addition to surgical and medical solutions, the first great ally of heart health is prevention. In the next few lines we will find out what are the main strategies and what we can do in everyday life to avoid cardiovascular diseases.
In fact, you could have a healthy and healthy heart thanks to these often underestimated prevention strategies
As the Humanitas Research Hospital reports, there are two types of prevention:
- that primary, when it concerns healthy people, but who must avoid the risks of developing cardiovascular diseases;
- that secondary, referring to subjects already affected by a heart attack or other cardiovascular pathologies.
Primary prevention
Primary prevention consists of lifestyle changes and reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
To do this, it is necessary to introduce healthy habits into the daily routine. For example, it is necessary to follow a correct diet, preferring the Mediterranean diet. Therefore cereals, legumes, fruit, vegetables, fish and lean meats are excellent. The foods to avoid, on the other hand, are too salty or fatty foods, fried foods and sweets.
Always referring to the lifestyle, we must also stop smoking and keep the body always in training, especially with aerobic exercises.
In addition, it is essential to keep cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels under control.
Secondary prevention
Secondary prevention, as already mentioned, is instead aimed at subjects already affected by cardiovascular diseases and therefore clinically considered to be chronically ill.
Those who have already had a heart attack, or heart failure, should follow the advice described above, but not only. In fact, a correct lifestyle should also be accompanied by targeted drug therapy and constant monitoring of heart health.
Hence, there may be a better chance of having a healthy, healthy heart thanks to these often underestimated prevention strategies.
How to monitor heart health
The monitoring activity can be carried out both at home and with in-depth clinical examinations. As for the first case, for example, you can check your heart rate, using electronic meters, such as a heart rate monitor or an oximeter. This parameter could also be monitored using smartwatches.
Or it can be checked by feeling the carotid, or radial arterial pulse.
The carotid one consists in placing and lightly pressing the fingertips (index, middle and ring fingers) just below the jaw. The radial one, on the other hand, consists in pressing the fingertips on the wrist, at the height of the thumb. In both cases, you will need to count the beats within one minute.
Normal resting values are in the range of 60 to 100 beats per minute. Below it speaks of bradycardia, above it of tachycardia. However, heart rate can also depend on other factors, such as age, sports activity, or the presence of fever.
The first step for a correct evaluation, however, is the sight of the cardiologist, who, after the medical history and physical examinations, will prescribe further tests if necessary.