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Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women, however, it’s preventable and controllable, a healthy diet being one of the best weapons in the fight against heart disease. The major cardiovascular disease risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, obesity, and stress. A diet replete with nutrient-rich foods – those high in vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients, but lower in calories- can affect the modifiable risk factors of heart disease including cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes and being overweight. Scientists discovered that a diet rich in fiber, particularly from whole-grain foods increased the chance of survival among those who had suffered from heart ailments in the past, reducing their mortality risk by as much as 25 percent. Grains, legumes and vegetables are some of the excellent sources of fiber. Different types of fiber and their benefits: Soluble Fiber - Good sources of soluble fiber include beans, peas, rice b...

  Pacemaker implants are increasingly common, recommended by a physician to individuals with irregular, slow, or fast heartbeats. In the United States alone, pacemaker implants have risen 56 percent in the last few years, but many people with cardiovascular issues fail to identify the symptoms at first. A variety of conditions can lead to your physician recommending you have a pacemaker implanted, such as you may be living with an irregular heartbeat caused by Atrial Fibrillation for a period of time until your symptoms worsen. Pacemakers stimulate the heart to beat at a normal rate and pump more effectively. Mostly, pacemakers are used to speed up slow heart rates, but sometimes, they are used to slow down fast heart rates. If the heart beats very fast, its chambers never fill up with enough blood, and if the heart beats too slowly, the heart fails to circulate adequate blood to meet the needs of the body. This is where pacemakers can play a huge role by normalizing slow, fast,...

Heart is one of the most important organs in the body, still the job it does most often go overlooked. Our hearts pump oxygenated blood through our bodies, providing every single cell with the nutrients required to keep our entire system in order. When our heart is healthy, we tend to not think much about it. In spite of the significant role the heart plays in our overall health, most of us do not recognize the signs of heart problems when they develop. Heart disease is the leading killer in the United States, which is a term that describes a group of different medical conditions that affect the structure and function of the heart. The heart, over a period of time, naturally loses some of its ability to keep up with the demand, and plaque can accumulate along the artery walls, a condition known as coronary artery disease (CAD). Adopting healthy lifestyle measures can help you from developing heart disease by helping to keep the risk factors that increase chances of developing heart d...

You should learn about maze procedure recovery which can help you decide if the surgery is right for you, which in turn, will help you prepare for a successful recovery. Recovery for a maze procedure depends on how your surgery was done, for instance, recovery period will be longer for an open-heart procedure compared to a less invasive procedure (which may be done through small cuts in the chest). The maze procedure is a surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib) that is used to control the irregular heartbeat and restore the normal rhythm of the heart. Doctors typically recommend the maze procedure when medicines has not worked to relieve your symptoms from AFib, you have symptoms of AFib and are having another heart surgery, you are having another heart surgery and adding the maze procedure doesn’t pose any danger or isn’t risky, you cannot have catheter ablation (the most common treatment for AFib), or you prefer surgery to anything else, and lastly, you’ve already had cat...

A heart attack is a serious event and can take a toll on both the physical and mental health of someone who has experienced it. While many people return to their normal activities within a week, others may take months to recover. Moreover, up to one-third of heart attack survivors will experience depression during recovery. It’s normal for a person to not feel like themselves after such a major event, which absolutely makes sense in view of the inherent uncertainty and fear about their future. A certain amount of sadness and fatigue is normal which will gradually go away as patients re-establish a regular life routine. But if it doesn’t, inform your doctor right away so that you both together can chart out a path to efficiently deal with and overcome the emotional impact of a heart attack. Addressing depression after a serious cardiac event like heart attack is critical, since depression is associated with worst outcomes and an increased risk of death for heart patients. It is m...

If you are diagnosed with hypertension or high blood pressure- it is one of the first signs of heart disease- your doctor will advice you on how to manage it, whether through lifestyle changes, such as watching your diet or starting an exercise, and/or medications. High blood pressure (HBP), left untreated, can damage your arteries and lead to serious complications like heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, amongst other complications. You have HBP if your blood pressure reading is persistently 140/90 mm Hg or higher. There are many risk factors for high blood pressure, such as family history and age, which cannot be controlled. However, many other factors can be modified, for example, you can change your food choices, for instance foods high in sodium throw balance of water in your body into disarray, which strains your blood vessels and causes a spike in blood pressure. So these are foods you should avoid with hypertension to keep your heart healthy and lower your risk of serious ...

High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease that is primarily caused by obesity, physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet, especially increases the risk of heart disease and stroke in certain groups which are sensitive to dietary cholesterol. Some other causes of high cholesterol include high intake of foods containing saturated fats and trans-fats (low intake of foods containing healthy, protective fats- polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats- that increases HDL “good” cholesterol in your blood), low intake of foods containing fiber, cholesterol in food (dietary cholesterol), and genetics (your family history may affect your cholesterol level). Eating a variety of foods promotes good heart health, including fruits and vegetables; grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and high fiber varieties; lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, legumes/beans; and milk, yogurt, cheese and alternatives, mostly reduced fat. Here’s a list of foods high ...