10 Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy

No one ever had fun visiting the cardiologist. ­Regardless of how good the doc might be, it’s always a little scary thinking about the health of something as fundamental as the heart. But there are ways to take greater control—to ensure that your own heart health is the best it can be—even if you have a family history of cardiovascular disease. Although 50% of cardiovascular-disease risk is genetic, the other 50% can be modified by how you live your life, according to Dr. Eugenia Gianos, director of Women’s Heart Health at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “This means you can greatly reduce a high genetic risk or greatly worsen a low genetic risk,” she says. “Your fate really lies largely in your hands.” Having that kind of control over your heart health is particularly welcome news right now, with cardiovascular disease remaining the number-one killer of both men and women. A recent CDC report revealed that “largely preventable” heart problems killed around 415,000 Americans in 2016. Under its Million Hearts campaign—which aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2022—the CDC identified approximately 2.2 million hospitalizations and 415,000 deaths from heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and related conditions in 2016 that likely could have been avoided. “Many of these cardiovascular events are happening to middle-aged adults—who we wouldn’t normally consider...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Baby Boomer Health heart health Source Type: news