Learn more about the hazards of smoking, the benefits of quitting, and tips for quitting from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Įxcess weight and an extra-large waist size both contribute to heart disease, as well as a host of other health problems. But don’t get discouraged many smokers do quit! In fact, in the United States today there are more ex-smokers than smokers. That makes tobacco use one of the toughest unhealthy habits to break. The nicotine that tobacco products deliver is one of the most addictive substances around. Additionally, the excess risk for all-cause mortality-that is, death from any cause-decreases to the level of a “never-smoker” 20 years after quitting. This study also reported that much of the excess risk due to smoking may be drastically lowered after quitting.In fact, researchers examining the relationship between cigarette smoking and smoking cessation on mortality during a decades-long perspective study of over 100,000 women found that approximately 64% of deaths among current smokers and 28% of deaths among former smokers were attributable to cigarette smoking. One way it does this is by contributing to heart disease. Tobacco use is a hard-to-break habit that can slow you down, make you sick, and shorten your life.
One of the best things you can do for your health is to not use tobacco in any form. Steps for the primordial prevention of heart diseaseįive key lifestyle steps can dramatically reduce your chances of developing cardiovascular risk factors and ultimately heart disease: As its name implies, the sooner you can start practicing primordial prevention-ideally from childhood on-the more likely you are to achieve it and protect yourself from heart disease. Once rarely discussed, primordial prevention is now the cornerstone of the American Heart Association’s definition of ideal heart health and efforts to help people achieve it. Primordial prevention involves working to prevent inflammation, atherosclerosis, and endothelial dysfunction from taking hold, and thus prevent risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, excess weight, and ultimately cardiovascular events. The word “primordial” means existing from the beginning. That said, the appearance of worrisome cardiovascular risk factors means that inflammation, atherosclerosis, and/or endothelial dysfunction are already at work and, in most cases, aren’t reversible. As with secondary prevention, primary prevention focuses on controlling these risk factors by making healthy lifestyle changes and, if needed, taking medications. Primary prevention is usually aimed at people who already have developed cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Primary prevention aims to keep an individual at risk of heart disease from having a first heart attack or stroke, needing angioplasty or surgery, or developing some other form of heart disease. It may be obvious, but the number one killer of individuals who survive a first heart attack is a second heart attack. These steps can prevent a second heart attack or stroke, halt the progression of heart disease, and prevent early death. Although secondary prevention may sound like “closing the barn door after the horse has gone,” it isn’t. It involves taking medications like aspirin and/or a cholesterol-lowering statin, quitting smoking and losing weight if needed, exercising more, and following a healthy diet. These efforts are started after someone has a heart attack or stroke, undergoes angioplasty or bypass surgery, or develops some other form of heart disease. All three have similar elements, but different starting times and different effects. When heart experts talk about prevention, they usually refer to one of three types: secondary, primary and primordial prevention.
0 kommentar(er)
