Jun 4, 2019
Eating a well-balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables including exercising for 150 minutes or more each week are two of the best things you can do to ensure that your ticker operates at its optimum. These are recommendations that as an Elizabeth City NC Chiropractor I share as good health practices for anyone.....they just so happen to be super beneficial for heart health. But did you know that there are other major contributors to heart health? For example, having untreated high LDL, or “bad cholesterol,” can significantly increase your risk of coronary disease and from a preventative standpoint, it should preferably be below 160 – even though this has been the “gold standard” for years it is becoming more controversial as to its efficacy. Other risk factors for heart disease include:
Even if you can’t hit these numbers your goal should be to focus on a healthy lifestyle and modifying risk factors and if your current numbers are tipping the scale in the wrong direction, your first step is to have a sit-down with your GP because taking decisive preventative action can significantly mitigate your likelihood of developing heart problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), half of the adult men, including 20% of adult women in the US have a heart that is five years older than their chronological age. The genes you inherit from your parents may play a role, but the risk factors for heart disease as a result of premature aging puts you at a higher risk for heart attack, stroke, stiff calcified arteries, thickened muscle tissue, etc.
While some of these conditions cannot be improved, the majority are under your control, and you are never too old to reduce your risk factors. So, here is what you can do: