Heart Health Tips
How often should I have my cholesterol levels checked?
If you are over the age of 20 and don’t have heart disease, you should have your levels checked every 4 to 6 years. You may need to get your cholesterol checked more often if you’re at risk for heart disease, have high cholesterol, or have been on medications that treat high cholesterol.
How can I lower my cholesterol levels?
Medications and lifestyle changes can help you get high cholesterol under control. Even if you don’t have high cholesterol, you can still make changes to your daily habits to lower your risk of heart disease.
Here are steps you can take:
What is high blood pressure?
When you have high blood pressure, also called hypertension, the force of blood against the walls of your arteries is high.
Without treatment, high blood pressure can damage your arteries, heart, kidneys, and other organs. It can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and kidney failure. It can also cause vision and memory loss, erectile dysfunction, fluid in the lungs, chest pain, circulatory problems, and several other conditions.
What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
You might have heard that high blood pressure is called a “silent killer.” That’s because there may be no symptoms.
How do I know if I have high blood pressure?
A blood pressure test is the only way to know if your blood pressure is too high. During the test, a cuff is placed around your upper arm to measure the pressure of blood flowing through the arteries.
Heart Health Tips
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Cholesterol continued...
How often should I have my cholesterol levels checked?
If you are over the age of 20 and don’t have heart disease, you should have your levels checked every 4 to 6 years. You may need to get your cholesterol checked more often if you’re at risk for heart disease, have high cholesterol, or have been on medications that treat high cholesterol.
How can I lower my cholesterol levels?
Medications and lifestyle changes can help you get high cholesterol under control. Even if you don’t have high cholesterol, you can still make changes to your daily habits to lower your risk of heart disease.
Here are steps you can take:
- Eat healthy: Your meals should be mostly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, poultry, fish, and nuts while limiting red meat and sugary foods and drinks. Bonus: Eating a heart-healthy diet can help you lose weight, which may help lower your cholesterol.
- Move more: Aim for 30 minutes of heart-pumping activity most days of the week. Think brisk walking, bicycling, and swimming.
- Quit smoking: No matter how long you’ve been a smoker, you will still benefit from quitting.
- Avoid secondhand smoke: Even if you don’t smoke, being around it can raise your risk of heart disease.
High Blood Pressure
What is high blood pressure?
When you have high blood pressure, also called hypertension, the force of blood against the walls of your arteries is high.
Without treatment, high blood pressure can damage your arteries, heart, kidneys, and other organs. It can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and kidney failure. It can also cause vision and memory loss, erectile dysfunction, fluid in the lungs, chest pain, circulatory problems, and several other conditions.
What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
You might have heard that high blood pressure is called a “silent killer.” That’s because there may be no symptoms.
How do I know if I have high blood pressure?
A blood pressure test is the only way to know if your blood pressure is too high. During the test, a cuff is placed around your upper arm to measure the pressure of blood flowing through the arteries.
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