Understanding Risk Factors and Prevention of Cardiac Diseases in Bronx

Have you ever wondered why heart disease is popular as silent killer? These conditions have a sneaky nature. You will not notice any symptoms of these diseases in their initial stages. By the time you experience complications, these diseases have reached an almost incurable stage. 

Ataul Chowdhury, MD, an internal medicine doctor will help you know the risk factors for cardiac diseases. He will also tell you how you can prevent the development of these conditions. This blog is going to be very helpful for you to ensure the well being of your heart.

What are Cardiac Diseases?

Cardiac diseases are conditions that affect the regular function of your heart. These conditions can occur in the muscles, arteries or valves. All these parts of your heart have distinctive roles in regulating blood throughout your body. 

Usually, heart diseases take a long time to develop into life threatening situations. You may not feel symptoms in the early stages. Sometimes you may have minor symptoms like slight chest discomfort or fatigue. But people usually don’t take these signs seriously. However when you feel severe chest pain or shortness of breath it means your disease has already damaged your heart functions.

Some common conditions are: 

• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• Arrhythmia
• Heart valve problems
• Coronary Artery Disease

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

High Cholesterol

You have both good and bad cholesterol. LDL is the bad one that creates plaque in your arteries. It makes your arteries narrow by creating buildup. For this reason, your blood cannot flow properly. These buildups can lead to blockage over time if you don’t manage them from the early stages. You can have sudden heart attacks as well.

Diabetes

High blood sugar can damage your blood vessels and nerves connected to your heart. Your blood vessels can become stiff. Also, the elasticity can be decreased. This stiffness can make it harder for your blood to flow smoothly. Moreover, damage in never can weaken their signal sending ability. For this reason, your blood pressure and pulse rate may not remain stable. Uncontrolled diabetes can cause heart failure, heart attack or coronary artery disease. 

Smoking

You can develop coronary conditions because of smoking. Cigarettes contain nicotine, carbon monoxide, tar and many other harmful chemicals. All these chemicals get mixed with your blood. For this reason, the inner lining of your arteries gets damaged. They also decrease oxygen in your blood. Your heart has to work harder and faster to deliver oxygen. Your blood pressure becomes unstable and creates hypertension issues.

Obesity

Are you obese? Your extra body weight is bad for your heart. Excess fat can make your body resistant to insulin. This will increase sugar in your blood and cause diabetes. Your LDL will also increase and create plaque. All these will affect your blood pressure and develop hypertension. You will see people who are obese experience heart attacks or heart failure more than those who have fit body structures.

Physical Inactivity

A sedentary lifestyle is affecting your heart like sitting at your computer table or lying in bed for most of the day. Lack of regular physical activity can make you obese. Also you can develop long term conditions like hypertension and diabetes. This is not the end. Your blood sugar levels can increase as well. 

Unhealthy Diet

You can block your arteries through your diet. Items that contain saturated and trans fats increase your cholesterol level. Sugar in your blood can get increased when you eat more carbohydrates and sweet items. And salty food can increase your blood pressure. So you can see that your food choices can increase all these risk factors for heart conditions.

Excessive Alcohol Consumption

Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is not good for your overall well being. It can cause various coronary conditions. It can make your arteries hard and narrow. It can also increase your blood pressure. It can also make you obese. So drinking alcohol without maintaining the recommended guidelines can increase your risk of having heart attacks, heart failure or strokes.

Family History

You can have coronary problems if you have them in your family history. Some of the conditions develop genetically. For example you can have hypertension if your parents, siblings or grandparents have it. You cannot avoid these conditions in this case. But you can delay their progress by managing them properly.

Stress

Long time stress can affect your heart health. It can increase your blood pressure and damage arteries. You can also develop unhealthy behaviors because of stress. Some of you may do stress eating which will improve your weight. Moreover, many of you may start smoking and drinking to relieve stress. Risk factors are all connected to each other. For this reason, one factor can trigger the other one and create complications.

Prevention Strategies

Eat Healthy Diet

We recommend you healthy diet. This diet plan consists of fruit, vegetables, whole grain products, healthy fat and lean protein. You should also avoid processed foods. This type of food contains too much salt which is bad for hypertension. You should also check the packaging labels before purchasing food. You must avoid items that contain high amounts of sugar, salt and fat.

Exercise Regularly

You need regular physical movement to keep your heart healthy. You should do a minimum of 150 minutes of physical movement every week. You can do walking, cycling or swimming. Do the movements that you enjoy the most. Your interest will motivate you to remain consistent. 

Weight Management

You can reduce your risk of having high BP, diabetes and bad cholesterol through weight management. We recommend managing your weight by eating fresh food and doing physical activities. We also suggest ways to avoid stress eating. This lifestyle counseling will help you control your weight. 

Manage Risk Factors

You should consistently monitor your blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol. These three are serious conditions that can cause sudden heart attacks. That’s why you must check their status and keep them under control. This is also important to keep your other organs healthy. We recommend you to maintain a healthy lifestyle. However, sometimes your conditions need medication intervention. We prescribe you medicines after assessing the level of your risk factors. 

Quit Smoking

You should stop smoking if you love your heart. Smoking helps to develop your risk factors and causes a lot of internal damage. Besides it affects your other organs too. You can ensure the overall wellness of your health by just avoiding this one bad habit. Primary care doctors encourage you to quit smoking. We offer counseling, cessation programs or nicotine replacement therapies to help you.

Limit Alcohol Intake

Alcohol is a good friend of your risk factors. It helps the risk factors to create more damage. That’s why we suggest you limit your alcohol consumption. However moderate drinking will not cause you severe complications. You can have one drink every day if you are a woman. But for men, the limitation is two drinks per day.

Manage Stress

Long term stress can impact your heart negatively. It can make your blood pressure unstable. You can do stress reducing activities to keep your mind stress free. You can practice meditation, yoga or deep breathing exercises to relax your mind. You can also find time for hobbies that make you happy. 

Regular Health Screenings

You should visit a primary care physician for screenings and checkups. This will help you to identify your risk factors early and manage them effectively. We conduct various health assessments to determine your current medical conditions as well as potential diseases. We provide interventions to manage your chronic conditions. We help you prevent your conditions from becoming severe. 

Schedule Your Appointment

NYCDocs is a trusted primary care provider in Bronx, NY. We provide cardiac care to ensure you a better quality of life. Our doctors are experts at providing personalized care for managing heart diseases and various chronic conditions. You will also get vaccinations, women’s health, behavioral counseling and many other services at our clinic. We have female doctors to make our female patients comfortable. Our Spanish speaking doctors can ensure clear and effective communication with our Spanish speaking patients. We allow both online and walk in appointments for your convenience. We also have a telehealth service. Book your appointment today.