Friday, January 29, 2010

Why High Blood Cholesterol Is Dangerous

Although being quite similar to fat, cholesterol might be harmful for your body than fat. Cholesterol keeps on moving in your entire body with the blood stream and cannot be mixed in the fluid. In our body cholesterol roams in a particular carrier, lipoprotein and reaches each and every organ of the body. When the amount of cholesterol exceeds the normal level, it hurts our arteries and gets accumulated in them, often referred as atherosclerosis.



Particularly when they block the passage of arteries transferring oxygen to heart, it results in acute pain, called angina, while the more serious affect is heart attack.



Cardiovascular problems are one of the fastest spreading health threats across the world and every year you will lakhs of people affected with either heart attack or stoke. Though you never know when one of these serious problems grips you, still certain factors are closely associated with disease:



Obesity


Lack of exercise or physical movements


Diabetes


Unhealthy diet


Too much fats and carbohydrate and sodium in diet


Alcohol consumption


Addiction to smoke etc



Although just one factor might not lead to serious problems but if it is accompanied by other reasons then, you are surely at higher risk of getting any of the heart problems. Hence in short it can be said that by avoiding these factors and leading a healthy life with proper, low fat diet, you can easily stay away from these problems, or at least keep your chances of acquiring them minimum.



Again it is very important that you get yourself checked frequently, for cholesterol level in your body, say if it is above 240 or so, then definitely you must work towards bringing it down. Even at some lower level also sometimes cholesterol is quite threatening, so follow what your doctor says to avoid any serious problem.



Apart from these, above said factors, there are some natural reasons that cause heart problems in you. Amongst all, hereditary is the one, that is if you have a tendency in your family to get effected by heart diseases, there are chances that you to are equally prone to it.



Age and whether you are male or female too certain contribution to your heart problems. Like cardiovascular problems might disturb aged people more than younger ones.



Stress might be equally harmful and responsible for various heart problems and if it is accompanied by obesity then, it is high time you must immediately get yourself checked.


Monday, January 18, 2010

An Overview of Heart Disease

Diseases related to heart are so common now-a-days that it may attack anyone at any stage. In fact you will be amazed to hear that it is one of the causes of death across the world. This is not the end of the story as the number of cases is still rising every year. Once you get attacked by cardiac diseases then no doubt you are in big trouble but yes , do not loose hope because we live in modern world where every disease has its own medicine and treatment.



In this article let's focus on how we can stay away from this problem, which is off course not a very difficult task as we all thought of it. Just a little bit change in life style can make huge difference over your health.



In case of heart diseases there is yet another disappointing fact and that is even if your lifestyle is very healthy, still you are equally at risk of developing heart diseases. How? Through your genes, but the good news is that if you have the disease in your genes, then its symptoms and causes are also very much there. All we need to do is to keep away from these causes.



Generally speaking, there are two main reasons to be blamed for all heart problems, excessive smoking and being overweight. As smoking and excess body weight increases the pressure on heart. Secondly if you are overweight, then it clearly says that neither you exercise properly to keep your heart healthy nor you take healthy diet, in both the cases your heart suffers a lot. Therefore quit unhealthy habits and see how it makes a difference in your life, especially for your heart.



Now coming to the symptoms of the heart diseases, it is very difficult to distinguish between each and every symptoms you feel. For example palpitation might be due to exercise or anxiety but if none of them is the cause then off course your heart health is not good.



Everyone of us loose breath after a heavy exercise or so ,but if it keeps on happening without any reason or even due to simple walk ,then it is the high time to get a good check up.



Then if you feel some tingling sensation in your hand and feet, then there is some problem with the blood supply to these parts, indicating an under-performance of your heart.



Though these were some symptoms which could be easily overlooked, angina is one stage which definitely indicates a heart problem. This is a stage when you feel pain or choking in heart. It may be regular or acute or seem to be normal. But once you experience such pain do not delay your visit to doctor.



Heart diseases are quite curable, if detected at right stage, so just be little aware about what your body is going through and if you feel any abnormal condition just consult your doctor.



Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Benefits of measuring your own blood pressure

Suffering from higher or lower blood pressure and monitoring it correctly is a problem? No worries , blood pressure monitors can help you out to keep the record and see the fluctuations in your blood pressure on regular basis. Therefore just purchase a blood pressure monitor from the market ,but remember to go for the one which suits your requirement.



Once you have got one monitor which is not too expensive, make sure you take the blood pressure values during the course of day , and by getting this readings it will be easier for you to work on bringing your blood pressure level to normal.



Well, though you get a manual of how to use the monitor yet it is advisable to talk to your doctor first or just take the monitor with you for a demonstration how it works. Otherwise it may be possible that you take incorrect measurement.



If you are using the monitor for the first time it may be possible that you get eitehr bit higher or lower values , there is no need to be panic about it. But if these values show again and again then ,just consult your doctor.



Lastly if you are taking the measurement at home make sure you do not perform it in haste , instead sit quitely and then start the procedure. Once you have got the measurements do not forget to work on it for either lowering it or for a healthy life.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Steps to Help Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease

If one goes by what the popular studies regarding heart diseases says then one would be amazed to know that in US alone one million succumb to death due to heart diseases. While 50% of total such death includes women too. Though there is no good news about this fact ,yet you would be happier to know that the factors responsible for these diseases are curable with just little bit change in your lifestyle.



I am showing you certain steps to help you reduce your risk of heart disease:



Include healthy food habits in your routine. Instead of going for junk foods concentrate more on the nutritious foods like vagetables,fruits and low-fat dairy products.



Exercise for sometime everyday. Yes, exercise is the key factor which will keep you away from heart diseases by increasing the blood circulation as well s promoting your cardiovascular health. So just pick up any form of physical activity like cycling, dancing etc.



Look after your body weight, as excess body weight puts immense pressure on your entire body, especially heart. So make sure you are regular in watching your weight and if necessary you must also get rid of some extra flab.



Keep a check on your body. You must know whether you actually have any heart ailment or not . In case you have be careful for the symptoms and luckily if you don't suffer from any of the heart diseases make sure you are still careful enough to notice any symptoms.



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

10 Ways to Avoid a Heart Attack

Heart attacks are not always severe or what we call in other words major, sometimes it can be minor one also. Now the problem is ,if heart attack is major than one can easily get the treatment or work towards giving relief to the patient, but what if a minor heart attack keeps on disturbing and still we are not able to detect. In that case it might be difficult to control the situation when a major heart attack comes. Generally the symptoms of minor heart attacks are such that they are easily confused with simple sickness symptoms. The symptoms of a heart attack include mild fever, feeling of nausea, tiredness and feeling sleepy all the time. But in case of a major heart alongwith these symptoms one might experience breathlessness, excessive sweating, severe pain in chest etc.



When there is a major heart attack, one needs to take decisions very fast, maybe to inform their physician or to call on an emergency number of nearby hospital.



The main reason of heart attack is the blockage in the arteries of heart which prevents free circulation of blood in heart. This in turn may be caused by fat deposition, or clotting of blood etc in the arteries. One can measure the severity of heart attack with the blockage itself.



Well again it is not essential that the hospital you called up must treat you as they might not be having proper equipments ,but do not worry ,in that case a patient is immediately referred to nearby hospital having all the facilities.



So next time anybody in your family or neighbor experiences such symptoms or a heart attack take them to the hospital as soon as possible, because soon you reach hospital better would be your chances of getting relief.


Monday, December 28, 2009

10 Common Symptoms And Signs Of High Blood Pressure

The force that blood exerts against the arteries is commonly known as blood pressure. But do you suffer from high blood pressure? And what about the symptoms and signs of high blood pressure, are you aware of them? If not then article below will give you a proper insight on it.


Generally people suffering from high BP either ignore the problem or take some anti-hypertensive medicines that too for a very short period. In fact going with the study, it shows that 90% medicines of high BP does not agree with the patient’s problem. Hence if the problem is not tackled properly, then it may turn in to more serious life threatening diseases effecting liver, kidney, eyes, heart and brain. Again if you are able to conquer high BP then obviously you are on safer side.

120/80 is the normal level of your blood pressure, but if this reaches 140/90, then you are no doubt suffering from hypertension. In between these two levels comes, pre-hypertensive stage, which you can easily bring down to normal by exercise, diet control, quitting smoking habit, etc.

What are the symptoms which informs you that you are high BP patient?


High BP is often called silent killer, as it shows no symptoms. Yet there are certain symptom which people worldwide associate with high BP. Some of them are bleeding of nose, fatigue, dizziness, and headaches and flushed face. People suffering from high BP might face these symptoms but they are equally common in the people with normal blood pressure. What are the actual reasons of these symptoms? The main reason behind these symptoms appearing in a patient suffering from high BP for quite a long time is the damage and failure of different organs including brain, kidney, heart and eyes. In fact, in some rare cases high BP may lead to swelling in the brain, resulting in coma or drowsiness.

In short hypertension has following 10 symptoms.

Blurred vision
Headache
Breathlessness
Tinnitus
Sleepiness
Fatigue
Nosebleed
Profuse sweating
Confusion
Vomiting
Low libido or lack of sexual desire

Remember that if you seem to have no such above mention symptoms, it does not imply that you do not suffer from high BP, because high BP has no symptom. Hence the effective way to keep your blood pressure in control is to get it checked regularly.

Wishing you all healthy living