Heart Attack Prevention Techniques: Caring for Your Body and Mind

You’re likely familiar with the alarming rate of heart attacks. You may have even witnessed someone grappling with this issue or a related concern. How does it happen? What triggers it? And how can it lead to death? A heart attack, in medical terms, is called a myocardial infarction. In simple terms, it occurs when the flow of oxygenated blood to a part of the heart is blocked for one reason or another.

The real damage occurs when blood flow is not restored, and some heart muscles start dying, which can lead to fatality. Also, the condition is characterized by physical pain and discomforting sensations like squeezing, unusual pressure, and fullness in the heart region. On the other hand, a heart attack also shows subtle symptoms like dizziness and lightheadedness, to list a few. Now that we’ve established what a heart attack is, let’s get right into how you can prevent one without further ado.

Physical Measures

Specific physical guides and measures are the most reliable when it comes to preventing or avoiding the possibility of a heart attack. General heart illnesses are mainly attributed to physical abnormalities and dysfunctions. So, while your mental state can slowly induce or accelerate a heart attack, they are mostly encountered during physical exertions. In that light, the following point covers several physical measures and practices that are very important in preventing a heart attack:

• Exercising
• Dieting
• Reducing or eliminating tobacco intake
• Weight watching

Exercising

When preventing a possible heart attack, keeping your heart in good shape always does it. And while there are several other ways to ensure good cardio health, keeping fit stands out. Another question arises as to what specific exercises to try to keep your heart strong and healthy. And the answer is general aerobic workouts.

In simpler terms, it is advised to participate in exercises that engage large muscle groups in burning energy and oxygen. Think of it as putting your heart to good use so frequently that it gets used to functioning under healthy conditions.

Furthermore, the following are some of the best aerobic workouts you can adopt regularly to keep your heart in good shape:

• Swimming
• Skipping
• Brisk walking
• Jogging, etc.

Also, for duration, it is optimal to attempt these exercises for about 80 minutes every week, which is an average of 12 minutes every day.

Dieting

Intentional and healthy diets also contribute a lot to cardiovascular well-being. Diets contribute to keeping your heart in shape by providing essential nutrients that reduce the risk of malfunctions. Foods like vegetables and fruits that contain good vitamins and minerals nourish the heart.

Also, you should strive to reduce your intake of added sugars and saturated fats, especially if you already have a history of heart attacks. That is because saturated fats increase LDL cholesterol levels, which can further harden your arteries and, as such, increase your chances of suffering a heart attack.

Reducing or Eliminating Tobacco Intake

Smoking in extraordinarily high proportions is a significant contributing factor to heart attacks. This is because tobacco raises blood pressure and causes atherosclerosis over time. Together, these conditions constitute an excellent risk of a heart attack at some point, especially if there’s already a history.

Also, smoking speeds up the clogging and eventual narrowing of coronary arteries, thereby reducing or cutting off blood flow to the heart. And when it comes to smoking as an addiction, it can get very tricky, as most addicted persons are not necessarily thinking about health consequences.

If that is your position, there are always addiction suppressants to turn to, whether physically, psychologically, or otherwise.

Weight Watching

Excessive weight is another significant factor in reducing the risks of an encounter with a heart attack. That is because overweight or obese people have an abnormal build-up of fatty materials in the arteries. These materials eventually block the arteries that carry oxygenated blood to the heart and could accelerate a heart attack. Also, obesity contributes to the chances of hyper blood pressure to the end of a heart attack.

So it is necessary always to ensure you stay in optimum shape and burn as much fat as possible regularly. Luckily, exercising regularly goes a long way in keeping you off excess fat. Excess weight does not cause a heart attack directly, but it facilitates reactions that can.

Mental Measures

As established earlier, myocardial infarction is mainly associated with physical dysfunctions. However, there are still a couple of psychological conditions that, over time, increase the likelihood of a heart attack. As such, it is only proper you consider them when looking to steer clear of any future situations. Hence, the following are some of the most pronounced psychological factors to control to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction.

Manage Anxiety

This tip especially applies to individuals who have a history of the condition or have been warned of one. And since anxiety is common, it is mainly managed and not treated conclusively. Stress is hazardous when it persists over time, causing increased cardiac activity like heart rate, blood pressure, etc.

In addition, there are many ways to manage chronic anxiety, including medications, therapy, exercise, social interaction, etc. Some approaches above could prove very useful depending on how much pressure you need to eliminate.

Manage Stress

Keeping your stress levels in check is also essential since stress produces physical and psychological effects. One of chronic stress’s most notable physical repercussions is cardiovascular irregularities like high blood pressure. So, while there is no concrete evidence that stress can cause a heart attack directly, it promotes conditions that can.

Stress management differs with the individual, but you can employ regular activities like exercise, yoga, and some good rest to get you going at any time.

Eliminate Depression

You are probably wondering how curbing depression can help you reduce the risk of a future heart attack. And you might have even guessed right that the two have no direct relationship. However, it isn’t so much about what depression does that puts you at risk but what it prevents you from doing.

In essence, depression encourages actions and inactions that prevent most people from regularly engaging in other preventive measures. For example, exercising is essential in keeping a healthy heart, and for most people, depression dampens the will to work out at any time.

In addition, depressing states encourage harmful addictions like smoking, overfeeding, and alcohol, which isn’t good news if you’re trying to stay fit, sober, and healthy. Depression can be easy to deal with in many cases, but for chronic patients, you should consider therapy and more outdoor events.

Final Thoughts

Heart attacks are scary and are caused by several factors. The good news is that there are several mental and physical tricks to mitigate against it. The tips that have been shared in this piece are extraordinary preventive measures. However, it is recommended that you seek the help of your physician/health care provider if you are having a heart attack.