By Adriana Rodriguez, Contributing Writer
February is known as American Heart Month, a perfect time to evaluate and improve one’s overall cardiovascular health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of deaths in the United States.
One of the main risk factors for poor cardiovascular health is hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. Aptly labelled as a “silent killer” by the CDC, high blood pressure shows no symptoms and can regularly go undetected and untreated for many years, if not for life.
Studies show that not only is high blood pressure a leading risk for stroke and heart disease, but also kidney failure, vision loss, heart failure, peripheral artery disease, sexual dysfunction, pregnancy complications, and cognitive decline and dementia.
Although high blood pressure is typically designated to be a late-age condition, it is actually common in younger age groups.
“Nearly 1 in every 4 adults aged 20 to 44 have high blood pressure,” states the CDC official website.
When trying to determine the state of one’s cardiovascular health, there are certain signs that may be helpful in identifying a bad state of health:
“[High] blood pressure, difficulty walking, or keeping breathing after some distance, maybe difficulty breathing because of the back up from the lungs, insomnia, etc.,” explained Galo Eduardo Alava, MD, MBA, and professor of the health care administration program at Saint Leo University.
Alava said that heart disease may be such a prominent killer agent in the United States due to poor lifestyle behaviors.
“People don’t follow primary prevention like education, don’t follow treatment correctly, and in many cases, [it]is the genetic makeup that makes positive changes difficult, and sometimes after having a cardiovascular episode like a heart attack, people don’t follow rehabilitation advice,” Alava said.
There are methods to prevent poor cardiovascular health through the alteration of everyday behavior.
The CDC encourages people of all ages to talk with a health care professional about changing to a healthier diet with foods that are low in sodium (salts) and saturated fats, and are instead rich in potassium, fiber, and protein.
For example, a healthy breakfast commonly found in the cafeteria could include bananas, oatmeal, and milk.
People should also make sure to confirm a healthy weight range with a professional doctor on a constant basis through the calculation of their body mass index (BMI), regardless of their current age and/or condition as it can be subject to change.
For those who find it difficult to access a nutritionist, there are low-cost platforms that are specifically geared to aid in dieting, manage nutritional progress, provide advice, etc. Some of these platforms are Nutrium, Foodzilla, and Healthie. Most platforms also involve a 30-day free trial.
Other ways of preventing heart disease also include, but are certainly not limited to, the regular participation in physical activities, a constant sleeping schedule, a lack of smoking, and a reduction of alcohol consumption.
These methods can be done at the Saint Leo campus through the Wellness Center, by going to the pool, or even by walking around campus.
Other questions to ask your healthcare professional are how to independently measure blood pressure and how to make healthy lifestyle changes. This can include what type of exercise is best suited for oneself and the regularity in which it should be partaken in.
Cardiovascular health can be a personal matter that is greatly affected by independent variables such as medical history, lifestyle, and even one’s very own genetic makeup. Regardless, the CDC continues to promote certain preventive methods and other ways of improving cardiovascular health at a broad scale.
For more in-depth advice and care for developing a healthy lifestyle and behaviors, students are encouraged to visit Saint Leo’s Health Center near the cafeteria presently and in the Wellness Center in the future. Here, students can get answers to any questions that they may have in regard to the CDC guidelines.
