I Want to Avoid Heart Issues: Where Should I Start?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one out of five deaths is caused by heart complications, and nearly half of the American population suffers from factors that put them at risk for cardiovascular issues. To lower your chances of disease and potentially fatal cardiac events, you should practice a heart-healthy lifestyle. 

At West Houston Heart Center in Houston, Texas, Dr. Humayun Naqvi and his team offer preventative cardiology to help you improve your cardiovascular health and reduce your chances of heart disease or a fatal heart attack. Here are a few ways preventative cardiology can save your life.

Learning about heart disease

Heart disease isn’t a single illness, but rather an umbrella term that covers a number of conditions. You might suffer from an irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia; a congenital heart defect; coronary artery disease (CAD); or an issue with the heart muscle or valve.

Diseases of the heart present similar symptoms across the board. Patients frequently report chest pain, shortness of breath, swollen ankles or feet, and even fainting. 

If you suffer from any of these symptoms, you should report them to a cardiovascular specialist as soon as possible to prevent a life-threatening event. If you have risk factors for heart disease, you should have screening done regularly. 

If the doctor finds evidence of heart disease, you’ll need to undergo testing to determine exactly which area of your heart is involved, what the core cause of your issues is, and how badly your heart is affected. 

Once we address existing issues, we can make a plan to improve your heart health. If your heart is healthy, we can plan a routine to help it stay that way and minimize your risks. 

Risk factors for heart disease

Generally speaking, caring for your heart is much like caring for other aspects of your health. Diet, exercise, and quality sleep are all necessary to maintain different parts of your body, your heart included. 

Along with eating nutritious and appropriately portioned servings of food every day, you should be practicing safe cardio, exercise that raises your heart rate slowly and steadily to strengthen the heart muscles over time.

Avoiding heart issues

To effectively avoid heart disease, you should cut out the following direct threats to your cardiovascular health. These include: 

• Obesity
• Smoking and other tobacco use
• Drug abuse 
• Poor dental health
• Extended periods of stress 
• Prolonged use of caffeine
• Excessive alcohol use
• High cholesterol 
• Hypertension

If you’ve lost family members to heart disease, be extra cautious about safeguarding your own heart, and request a heart check-up from your specialist. We can run diagnostics to identify any existing issues, and regularly screen you for changes to your cardiovascular health. 

Rather than waiting for symptoms to appear or a life-threatening event to occur, take control of your heart health with preventative cardiology. To learn more, call West Houston Heart Center at 832-400-3957, or request an appointment online.