Live a Healthy Lifestyle -- Eat a healthy diet. Choosing healthful meal and snack options can help you avoid heart disease and its complications. Be sure to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. -- Eating foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber can help prevent high blood cholesterol. Limiting salt or sodium in your diet can also lower your blood pressure. -- Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese can increase your risk for heart disease. To determine whether your weight is in a healthy range, doctors often calculate a number called the body mass index (BMI). Doctors sometimes also use waist and hip measurements to measure a person's excess body fat. -- Exercise regularly. Physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower cholesterol and blood pressure. The Surgeon General recommends that adults should engage in moderate-intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week. -- Don't smoke. Cigarette smoking greatly increases your risk for heart disease. So, if you don't smoke, don't start. If you do smoke, quitting will lower your risk for heart disease. Your doctor can suggest ways to help you quit. -- Limit alcohol use. Avoid drinking too much alcohol, which causes high blood pressure. 

1. http://www.fitango.com/categories.php?id=618
Fitango Education
Health Topics
Heart Disease Prevention

2. 1
What you can do
**Live a Healthy Lifestyle**
-- Eat a healthy diet. Choosing healthful meal and
snack options can help you avoid heart disease and
its complications. Be sure to eat plenty of fresh
fruits and vegetables.

3. 2
What you can do
**Live a Healthy Lifestyle**
-- Eating foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol
and high in fiber can help prevent high blood
cholesterol. Limiting salt or sodium in your diet can
also lower your blood pressure.

4. 3
What you can do
**Live a Healthy Lifestyle**
-- Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or
obese can increase your risk for heart disease. To
determine whether your weight is in a healthy
range, doctors often calculate a number called the
body mass index (BMI). Doctors sometimes also
use waist and hip measurements to measure a
person's excess body fat.

5. 4
What you can do
**Live a Healthy Lifestyle**
-- Exercise regularly. Physical activity can help you
maintain a healthy weight and lower cholesterol
and blood pressure. The Surgeon General
recommends that adults should engage in
moderate-intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes
on most days of the week.

6. 5
What you can do
**Live a Healthy Lifestyle**
-- Don't smoke. Cigarette smoking greatly increases
your risk for heart disease. So, if you don't smoke,
don't start. If you do smoke, quitting will lower
your risk for heart disease. Your doctor can suggest
ways to help you quit.
-- Limit alcohol use. Avoid drinking too much
alcohol, which causes high blood pressure.

7. 6
Lowering Your Risk
If you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure,
or diabetes, there are steps you can take to lower
your risk for heart disease.
Have your cholesterol checked. Your health care
provider should test your cholesterol levels at least
once every five years. Talk with your doctor about
this simple blood test.

8. 7
Lowering Your Risk
Monitor your blood pressure. High blood pressure
has no symptoms, so be sure to have it checked on
a regular basis.
Manage your diabetes.If you have diabetes, closely
monitor your blood sugar levels. Talk with your
health care provider about treatment options.

9. 8
Lowering Your Risk
Take your medicine. If you're taking medication to
treat high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or
diabetes, follow your doctor's instructions
carefully. Always ask questions if you don't
understand something.

10. 9
Lowering Your Risk
Talk with your health care provider. You and your
doctor can work together to prevent or treat the
medical conditions that lead to heart disease.
Discuss your treatment plan regularly and bring a
list of questions to your appointments.

11. 10
Aspirin Use
**Recommendations for Aspirin Use to Control
Existing Cardiovascular Disease**Aspirin can be beneficial to individuals who already
have experienced a heart attack, stroke, angina or
peripheral vascular disease, or have had certain
procedures such as angioplasty or bypass. Doctors
may recommend aspirin use for persons with these
conditions unless there is another medical reason
why these individuals should not take aspirin.
Because aspirin may not be the most effective
therapy for everyone, other anti-platelet medicines
may be used instead of aspirin or along with
aspirin.

12. 11
Aspirin Use
**Recommendations for Aspirin Use to Prevent
Cardiovascular Disease**Aspirin can be taken to prevent heart disease and
stroke in some individuals who have not previously
experienced these events. The U.S. Preventive
Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that
men with no history of heart disease or stroke
aged 45-79 years use aspirin to prevent myocardial
infarctions and that women with no history of
heart disease or stroke aged 55-79 use aspirin to
prevent stroke when the benefit of aspirin use
outweighs the potential harm of gastrointestinal
hemorrhage or othe

13. 12
Risk Factors
Some conditions as well as some lifestyle factors
can put people at a higher risk for developing heart
disease. All persons can take steps to lower their
risk of heart disease and heart attack by
addressing these risk factors. Control of risk factors
is especially need by people who already have
heart disease.
Conditions

14. 13
Risk Factors
Behavior
Heredity