Love Your Heart

February is heart health awareness month, the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves that the constantly hard-working muscle in the body may be in need of more TLC than we are providing.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada recently put a series of Make-Death-Wait advertisements, sending out a badly-needed message. Although heart disease has decreased by 25% over the last decade, it along with stroke is still the leading causes of death in Canada, taking a life every 7 minutes. Because of these statistics, heart disease and stroke cost our economy 20.9 billion dollars annually, as a result of decreased productivity, lost wages, and medical services and costs.

These alarming, and intimidating statistics can be changed drastically if each of us made small changes in our daily lives. This is not an overly optimistic statement, as the majority incidences of heart disease and strokes are preventable. Many people believe that if heart disease runs in the family, it means they will also suffer from these illnesses. While genetic inheritance can be a risk factor, it is certainly not the one and only determining factor. In fact, not only is heart disease and stroke largely preventable, physiological changes in the body such as cholesterol levels and atherosclerosis can reverse with the right lifestyle changes.

A study published over a decade ago, best known as the Ornish Study, found that by making lifestyle changes such as stopping smoking, increasing vegetables and decreasing fats from the diet and regular exercise, atherosclerotic lesions (plaque) have regressed by 82% compared to before these changes were implemented. It is important to point out that this dramatic change happened in just a year, and these patients were not treated using conventional medication.

Clearly the link between healthy lifestyle and the prevention and treatment of heart disease and stroke is not new. However, it is often neglected. While most of us understand the importance of heart disease prevention, many ignore it until it is too late. If you are think that you can afford to wait until you detect symptoms before you take action, then remember: the first noticeable symptom of heart disease is a heart attack, and possibly death.

It is never too early to prevent illnesses, it begins today, it begins now. How? A good place to start is to ensure that you get adequate sleep each night. Once you are well-rested, feeling more energized, you may be more motivated to make changes in other areas too, such as make a plan to stop smoking, start exercising on a regular basis, and examine your diet and find areas that need improvement. Lastly, but not least, good stress management is vital to protecting oneself from heart disease. The mechanism is simple, stress raises stress hormone such as cortisol and adrenaline in the body, which are hormones that, among other things, raise blood pressure, increase heart rate and blood sugar levels. These result in increased risks of not only heart disease but also diabetes.

This may sound like an overwhelming number of things that need to change, but remember that every little effort counts, and that every little change you do make, will have a greater impact than you may think.

Good luck and love your heart!