In a newly published guidance, researchers give recommendations about how to prevent stroke and heart attack effectively.
The recommendations include eating a heart-healthy diet, taking regular exercise, stop smoking tobacco and control risk factors like high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
The new 2019 Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease guideline is from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death for both men and women in the United States. About 33% of death in the U.S. is because of heart disease and stroke.
Previous studies have shown that the build-up of plaque in the arteries plays a big role in heart disease.
In addition, problems with how the heart contracts and pumps blood to the rest of the body can harm people’s health.
In the new guidelines, the researchers focused on healthy lifestyle habits.
They suggest people eat a heart-healthy diet, which is high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and fish, and low in saturated fats, salt, processed meats, fried foods, and sugary beverages.
They recommend the Mediterranean, DASH and vegetarian diets.
A second important lifestyle habit is regular exercise. Adults should take at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercises every week.
Currently, only about 50% of American adults are getting enough exercise. Too much sedentary time could increase the risk of heart disease.
Common exercises can do wonders to people’s health, including brisk walking, swimming, dancing, and cycling.
A third important lifestyle habit is keeping a healthy body weight. The team suggests that for people who are overweight or obese, just losing 5% to 10% of their body weight could cut their risks of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
In addition, people should pay more attention to their belly fat, not the overall weight numbers. Reducing belly fat and gain more muscles can greatly improve their health.
Another healthy lifestyle habit is to avoid tobacco. Smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke could increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
People should avoid tobacco by not smoking, vaping or breathing in smoke.
The new guidelines suggest people with type 2 diabetes should take two classes of diabetes medications.
These drugs could work to lower blood sugar levels. They can also cut the risk of heart attack, stroke and related deaths.
The researchers also suggest that aspirin should only be rarely used to prevent heart attacks and stroke in healthy people.
One lead author of the guideline is Roger S. Blumenthal, MD., the Kenneth Jay Pollin Professor of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
The guidance is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
