How to Reduce Your Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease affects over 80 million Americans each year by striking people with hypertension and heart disease. You can use prevention as a great way to fight cardiovascular disease before it has a chance to attack you.

Instructions

• 1

  Stop smoking if you are a smoker. Do what it takes, whether it's going through a program or seeing your doctor for more thorough treatment.

• 2

  Cut down on drinking, or avoid the consumption of alcohol altogether. Alcohol destroys the liver causing the heart to pump faster than usual to get platelet containing blood to the liver to heal the negative effects alcohol processing. This activity of the cardiovasular system can result in elevated blood pressure and over time high blood pressure will become chronic. If you drink alcohol, you are highly encouraged to quit or cut back.

• 3

  Watch what you eat. Avoid foods high in sodium and adding salt to your food. Sodium in excess over time can wear out the lining of the blood vessels thus making your heart pump faster to get blood to the damaged areas of the blood vessels. This overactivity of the circulatory system can cause chronic cardiovascular disease. Avoid foods like potato chips, boullion and other foods that are really high in sodium. If you must add salt to your food when cooking for your family, add just enough to barely taste.

• 4

  Reduce the amount of stress in your life if at all possible. If you are under a considerably amount of stress on a day to day basis, there are a number of things that may help including: getting away from what may be causing the stress, seeking medical help to control stress and even confronting what may be causing the stress works.

• 5

  Keep your weight under control. Obesity causes the heart to over labor and become tired over the years. The larger a person is, the more the heart has to work. Weight can be controlled using several different techniques some include: maintaining a healthy diet with foods from all food groups and daily or routine exercise.