How could February *not* be heart month? It’s a month with hearts and roses all over the media, so it’s a great time to also remind people to take care of their real heart, one that doesn’t look anything like a valentine.
Heart disease is a scary topic. It can hit anyone at any time, but there are people who are at higher risk of developing heart disease than are others. Some of the risk factrs include:
- having a family history of heart disease
- being male – although women do develop heart disease in large numbers, it is still more prevalent among men
- being older – risk increases with age
- smoking
- having high blood cholesterol (the “bad” one)
- being overweight
- not exercising
- having diabetes
- not coping well with high levels of stress
- abusing alcohol
Heart disease is a disease that we can work on lowering our risk factors. While we can’t change who we are in terms of age and family history, we can change outside factors that are caused by lifestyle, such as not exercising, smoking, abusing alcohol.
If you’ve not had your cholesterol levels checked recently, it may be a good idea to have this a regular February thing. The people who love you will appreciate this type of Valentine’s gift – having you around longer.
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Image: iStock.com
Post from: Blisstree