Your A To Z Guide To A Healthy Ticker

By Stacey Colino for iVillage

We're (finally!) getting the message that heart disease is an equal opportunity threat, affecting women and men alike. But not enough women are taking the message personally and swinging into action to protect their hearts, says Nieca Goldberg, M.D., medical director of the New York University Women's Heart Program and author of Dr. Nieca Goldberg's Complete Guide to Women's Health.

That's unfortunate because heart disease is largely preventable -- something many people don't realize -- if you lead a healthy lifestyle. You don't need to completely revamp your life to improve your heart health.

Making small changes to your daily habits can have a cumulatively positive impact. Read on for our A to Z guide on how to protect your ticker, starting now.

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A: Ask About Your Family History

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It's not enough just to know whether anyone in your family had a heart attack or died of heart disease, says Dr. Goldberg. It's also important to ask about angina, bypass surgery, angioplasty, aortic abdominal aneurysm, stroke or peripheral artery disease, because having a family history of any of these conditions also increases your risk of developing a form of cardiovascular disease. Be sure to discuss a family legacy of any of these heart-related problems with your doctor. More from iVillage: Celebs and Depression: Which Famous People Have Battled Mental Illness? Get Your Kid Moving! Homework Dances, Camel Poses and More The 13 Most Dangerous Teen Health Risks

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It's not enough just to know whether anyone in your family had a heart attack or died of heart disease, says Dr. Goldberg.

It's also important to ask about angina, bypass surgery, angioplasty, aortic abdominal aneurysm, stroke or peripheral artery disease, because having a family history of any of these conditions also increases your risk of developing a form of cardiovascular disease.

Be sure to discuss a family legacy of any of these heart-related problems with your doctor.

More from iVillage:

Celebs and Depression: Which Famous People Have Battled Mental Illness?
Get Your Kid Moving! Homework Dances, Camel Poses and More
The 13 Most Dangerous Teen Health Risks

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Comments

[drramsey]

04:47 PM on 09/26/2011

Great information - very true. Doing more comprehensive testing of patients regarding LDL particles, CRP-HS and homocysteine as typical screening tools. There are so many small things we can do to benefit heart health that require very little time and money – one of them being living a life of joy instead of a life of stress.
~ Dr. Theresa Ramsey, Author of Healing 101, http://www.DrRamsey.com

[Kelliecar]

06:40 PM on 09/07/2011

There are tons of us who are adopted and will never know this information. I was adopted in 69' and have tried several times (even went to court after having hereditary breast cancer) to get my adoption records unsealed to no avail. Even worse, I have long QT syndrome (a “sudden death” arrhythmia simply prevented with a defibrillator if caught in time), Often, such as with my case it cannot be detected by an EKG and requires genetic testing or a child could die playing sports or even in their sleep. Both of these are genetic such as BRCA gene for breast cancer (already have had) and the Long QT Syndrome, and it sure would be nice to warn any siblings out there since it is such a dangerous arrhythmia as many cases can only be found with the genetic test. What do those of us without a biological family tree do? How can we protect family we don’t know about? This is much more than just my own health! So, yes it must be nice to know your family tree (biological) not only for yourself, but your loved ones you pass the information along too. I feel helpless that there are people out there that I cannot warn of such a deadly condition, not to mention it is nicknamed sudden death syndrome for a reason. Hmmmm, how to get those records so I can have this, according to the medical community, most important piece of health information!

[NevaforLeadership]

10:56 PM on 08/31/2011

I quit reading at Slide 23.

The author is not up to date with her facts, so there is no point reading the article.

[deepak gogoi]

04:56 AM on 08/31/2011

In India problem related to heart has increased manifold in recent times. The cause may be many like hectic working hours, unconcerned diet, consuming too much fat & oil, anxiety over family problems etc. Any way this post is a simplified insight which will help common people to understand importance & precaution to once own heart for a healthy living & longevity.

[T Howyadoin Roy]

12:15 AM on 08/31/2011

Someone there should do an article on what to do to maintain a heart that is severely diseased already.

[AiredaleLady]

04:21 PM on 08/30/2011

Now that you have given the traditional list for preventing heart diseace, there is one more thing that would be good for everyone to know about blood pressure: http://www.spacedoc.com/blood_pressure_heart_disease.htm This article is by Duane Graveline MD MPH, Former USAF Flight Surgeonm Former NASA Astronaut, and Retired Family Doctor

[akerchen]

01:41 PM on 08/30/2011

Ben Greenfield has some good information on heart healthy exercise: http://naturalvitalitysports.com/2011/02/ben-greenfield-cardiovascular-exercise-high-intensity-vs-low-intensity/

[HerrMonk]

11:59 AM on 08/30/2011

"Not all fats are created equal. As far as your heart is concerned, there are good fats and bad fats. That's why it's wise to replace saturated fats (from red meat and full-fat dairy products) and trans fats (in margarine, other spreads and some crackers and cookies) with healthy monounsaturated fats (in olive and canola oils, avocados, nuts and seeds) and polyunsaturated fats (in corn oil and fatty fish)."
Dr. Goldberg. doesn't know what he's talking about and probably got under 20 hours of nutrition education under a 50+ year old paradigm.

Transfats are the only bad fats. The other issue is an omega 3/omega6 balance. For most of us that means seeking out additional sources of omega 3 as omega 6 is far more common.

Omega 6 is still an ESSENTIAL (meaning you MUST eat it to survive) fatty acid.

How much hydrogen is in the fat is irrelevant, except for when cooking: saturated fat tends to equal higher smoke temps.

[SW84]

09:32 AM on 08/30/2011

"As far as your heart is concerned, it's best to consume a balanced diet that follows a few key principles. First, it should replace saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol with healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. "

um actually there has been no link between increased CVD risk and sat fat intake, in fact it may improve things