by Dr. Raul A. Santos
One of the most frequent questions I hear is, “How can I prevent a heart attack?” In most cases, the answer is simple: The most effective way of avoiding cardiovascular disease is a healthy and active lifestyle.
Heart disease and physical inactivity may be leading causes of death, but understanding your body and improving your lifestyle are easy preventative steps that can help you take charge of your fate. To make this point more clear, below are numbers that put inactivity and living unhealthy lifestyles in perspective.
• Physical inactivity was responsible for 10 percent of premature deaths worldwide or more than 5.3 million deaths in 2008.
• 9.4 percent of deaths from any cause can be attributed to physical inactivity.
• According to the Heart Foundation, every 34 seconds someone in the United States has a heart attack, and one person every minute dies from a heart disease-related cause.
Everything that gets worse when you grow older potentially gets better when you exercise. Even modest levels of physical activity can have substantial health benefits:
• Commuting to work
• Taking the dog for a walk
• Playing with your grandchildren
• Go for a swim
• Ride your bike around the park
• Gardening even counts!
As I tell my patients, sitting is the new smoking and the best way to improve your health is to become accountable for your own cardiovascular health!
Our team of physicians and staff at Cardiovascular Consultants are passionate about helping people with lifelong management and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors and cardiac disease. In addition, we are very knowledgeable in the acute management of myocardial infarctions and acute congestive heart failure. Cardiovascular Consultants offers complete outpatient cardiovascular services, including echocardiography, stress testing, vascular studies, and nuclear stress testing. Come visit us at our new location: 4421 Long Prairie Road, suite 200, in Flower Mound.
Raul A. Santos, M.D., is with Cardiovascular Consultants of North Texas.
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound is a joint venture owned by Texas Health Resources and physicians dedicated to the community and meets the definition under federal law of a physician owned hospital. Doctors on the medical staff practice independently and are not employees or agents of the hospital.
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