World Heart Day is a traditional event created by the World Heart Federation. The aim here is to draw attention to cardiovascular diseases, which is the leading cause of death in our country and all over the world, to increase the awareness level of the people in this way, to contribute to the improvement of the heart health of the society by reducing the risk factors that cause cardiovascular disease at the community level.

I think it would be appropriate to mention general health issues in particular to the heart. Although the heart is at the forefront of everything for us heart doctors, we need all our organs for a complete health condition.

Throw away anything in your life that you think is harmful.

For us heart doctors, smoking and its derivative hookah, which has become a more current problem, are the leading ones. Little or most of both are harmful at every level and I believe that if our patients see the coronary heart vessels damaged by smoking and its derivatives, they will understand what I mean much better. Smoking and its derivatives damage not only the heart vessels but also many organs, especially the lungs, and pave the way for dysfunction and cancer in these organs. I think it would be useful to mention alcohol here. In the name of cardiovascular health, I think it would be appropriate to stay away from drinking high doses of alcohol, because in this patient group, high doses of alcohol can directly damage the heart muscle and cause a heart muscle disease called cardiomyopathy.

watch your weight

In the light of scientific data, we know that weight gain increases the tendency to Hypertension, Diabetes and Lipid diseases that threaten cardiovascular health. Being overweight also poses a risk for coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke. The most important measure here is your waist circumference. The ideal waist measurement is 94 cm and below for men and 80 cm and below for women.

Pay Attention to Nutrition

Stay away from pastries, focus on the Mediterranean diet

The emphasis on '3 white' becomes important here. Salt, sugar, flour! Since I will open a separate topic for salt, I want to write a sentence or two on sugar and flour for now. It is true that sugar and flour are an undeniably beautiful couple when they come together, but unfortunately, not every truth makes us healthy. The high calories they contain, especially in an organism without exercise, make them threatening cardiovascular health through some metabolic diseases such as rapid weight gain, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. American Diabetes Association For heart health, fasting blood sugar should be 120mg/dl and glucose hemoglobin (HbA1C) should be below 7 percent. On the contrary, a fruit-vegetable and fiber-based diet has a very special importance for gut and heart health.

watch out for salt

In patients with high blood pressure, that is, hypertension, heart and kidney failure, disproportionate salt intake is the source of frequent admission to the hospital in patients. While 4-6 g of salt per day is sufficient for daily needs, it has been determined that Turkish people consume much more salt than this and get this salt mostly from the food cooked in the pot. By opening a special parenthesis here, I would like to point out that it is a useful option to increase salt consumption, especially in people who have low blood pressure.

Increase your exercise

Today, we started to move less because of the opportunities offered by technology such as automobiles, escalators and elevators. However, lack of physical activity and lack of physical condition are important risk factors in the formation of cardiovascular diseases. For your heart health, take care to walk and exercise for at least (30- 45) minutes three days a week. It should not be forgotten that the most beneficial physical exercise is the one that is done regularly.

Review risk factors

Risk factors for cardiovascular health include age, gender, family history, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. There's nothing to be done for the first three, unfortunately! I have mentioned cigarettes and its derivatives above. Let's come to the last three, excessive salt consumption, excessive calorie diet and especially saturated animal fat consumption trigger numerous damages in this trio through many mechanisms. This famous triad is the cause of many fatal diseases with the damage they cause in the layer that covers the inner part of the vessels, which we call endothelium, and they must be taken under absolute control. Among the deadly diseases, heart attack is the most famous, but it would not be wrong to add cerebral palsy, end-stage kidney failure, vascular disease of the aorta and its branches. In this sense, pay attention to your regular doctor check-ups.

Feed the field

Do not give up on this effort today, where natural nutrition becomes more and more difficult with each passing day. The sparkle of life is always in nature, don't forget that!

For as much water as you need

Although the recommendations for water have changed from time to time since the Hippocratic period, the suggestion that people consume as much water as they need seems to be the most correct recommendation. However, it is important to pay attention to fluid intake as recommended by doctors for some patients with heart and kidney failure and taking medication.

Breathe fresh air, stay away from stress

The problems of the big cities are sometimes as big as themselves. Gases released into the air, especially from road vehicles and some industrial centers, cause aggravation of airway diseases, causing patients to apply to hospitals more frequently. To reduce this type of exposure, meeting nature at leisure can be a relatively useful suggestion. I'm sure this will also reduce your stress in daily life.

Take care of your sleep and sexual life quality

Although movement is essential for general health, so is sleep! Take care of your sleep quality. Snoring during sleep, occasional cessation of breathing, waking up tired in the morning, falling asleep in front of the TV may be the harbingers of the disease we call sleep apnea syndrome, do not hesitate to seek professional support. Finally, it should be noted that on sexual life; Although it is a disease with treatment for erectile dysfunction (erectile dysfunction) in men, some drugs used here are inconsistent with the drugs given for cardiovascular health, and taking them together can sometimes lead to sudden cardiac death. It is dangerous to use drugs that increase sexual performance together with 'nitrate-derived' drugs given for cardiovascular health. It will always be useful to follow the doctor's recommendations in this regard.

exp. Dr. Halit OZBEK
Cardiology and Internal Medicine Specialist

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