Tag: heart disease

7 Steps to a Healthy Heart

This post is part of a series on heart health, covering heart anatomy, diseases, risk factors, symptoms, and ways to maintain heart health. It discusses types of heart disease, risk factors including genetics and lifestyle, symptoms indicating heart problems, and preventative measures such as quitting smoking, managing weight, and controlling stress.

This post is part of my HEART HEALTH series.

In the first post, I introduced you to the HEART, its anatomy, and how it works.

diagram of the human heart
Heart diseases affect any and sometimes multiple parts of the heart- the atria, ventricles, the valves, the aorta, the pulmonary artery and veins, the walls and the coronary arteries (not shown in this diagram. )

In the second post, we looked at ways the HEART can “break”.

7 important forms of HEART DISEASE.

  1. Congenital heart disease
  2. Cardiomyopathy
  3. Coronary artery disease/myocardial infarction ( heart attack)- the most common cause of death in the United States
  4. Congestive heart failure
  5. Sudden cardiac death
  6. Arrhythmia
  7. Hypertension
EKG tracing
In sudden cardiac death, the heart stops beating abruptly

In this post, we look at protecting our HEARTS from disease, disability, and death. 

What increases your risk of developing HEART disease?

There are 7 important risk factors for heart disease 

  1. smoking
  2. hypertension
  3. excess body weight
  4. sedentary lifestyle, too little physical activity
  5. high blood fats (cholesterol)
  6. high blood sugar (glucose)
  7. poor nutrition
complications of high blood pressure

Other risk factors cannot be changed. These include

gender– unfortunately males are somewhat more at risk, especially at younger ages.

age– our risk increases as our age does.

ethnicity– some ethnic groups have a higher risk. In the United States these are African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics. These may be due to genetics, and/or social determinants of health.

Family history– This means a close relative, like a parent or sibling, who developed heart disease young, or less than 50 years old.

7 symptoms that may indicate a heart problem

  1. Chest pain– this is probably the most recognized heart disease symptoms, but is not unique to heart disease, nor is it always found in heart disease.
  2. Shortness of breath– especially if it occurs with minimal exertion, or if you find you have less tolerance for exertion.
  3. Palpitations– this means feeling like your heart is beating too fast, too hard, or at irregular intervals.
  4. Fatigue- especially if out of proportion to physical activity, if you tire more easily or quickly, or seem to have less energy than in the past
  5. Unexplained weight gain or swelling in the feet and legs
  6. Dizziness or lightheadedness when standing or walking, especially after exertion.
  7. Syncope, the medical term for fainting or passing out, especially if no other obvious cause (some people know they faint at the sight of blood, or with certain smells; that form of fainting is usually harmless, unless injured from falling)
taking blood pressure
blood pressure cuff, pill holder with medication
jogging trail sign
plate of vegetables

How to keep our hearts healthy

  1. Stop smoking– consider these  7 surprising reasons to be smoke free
  2. Control your weight– achieve  and stay at a healthy weight.6 steps to losing weight and gaining hope
  3. Be screened for diabetes and high cholesterol; if found, manage with your doctor’s supervision .10 Silent Signs of Diabetes
  4. Get more active, do some physical activity on a regular basis.Health lessons from the Women’s World Cup
  5. Eat less junk food,make healthier food choices. Learn easy ways to shop healthier from the American Heart Association
  6. Have your blood pressure checked regularly (ask your doctor how often). If you have hypertension,  follow your doctor’s management plan, which may include medication. Learn more from FamilyDoctor.org 
  7. Control and manage stress. Medical studies suggest that emotional stress can bring on cardiovascular disease. You can learn more from Dr. James Marroquin’s fascinating post.
PROVERBS 4:23- GUARD YOUR HEART
a wise saying, in more ways than one thanks to TriciaGoyer.com

Exploring the HEART of Health

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Medical stethoscope and heart on a textured background

Dr Aletha

7 Surprising Reasons to be Smoke Free

In this post I remember how smoking has changed since I was a child. The health risk was minimized or even ignored. But that changed. Even so, it remains a leading cause of preventable illness. Here are resources for quitting .

updated July 2, 2025

One of my favorite vacation spots has been Colorado, even more so now that some of my grandchildren live them. On one trip to the Colorado Springs area, I enjoyed walking through Seven Falls.

Seven Falls is a series of seven cascading waterfalls of South Cheyenne Creek in South Cheyenne Cañon. To get to the falls, you walk a one-mile scenic path through the canyon, passing trees, towering cliffs, and a winding stream. Along the way, I  passed more “no smoking” signs than I have seen anywhere.

2015-09-14 13.33.50
On the path to the Seven Falls, Colorado

Smoking Then and Now

I grew up when smoking was socially acceptable and widely practiced, and no one worried about the health effects. My mother and her friends smoked, even in our house.

She would drive us to the grocery store, stay in the car, and send me inside with 50 cents to purchase a pack of cigarettes for her. She told me, “Tell the clerk it’s for your mother.” In today’s world, she could be charged with child neglect for doing that.

When I was an adult, she quit the habit but unfortunately not before smoking had caused atherosclerosis (hardening) of her leg arteries, limiting blood flow and making walking painful. Surgery corrected this, but the arteries in her brain were also affected, leading to dementia in late life.

Cigarette advertising was everywhere; billboards, television, magazines. Even JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, had cigarette ads. I went to medical conferences where, during the breaks, physicians would go into the lobby and light up cigarettes. After just listening to a lecture on heart disease!

Hazardous to Your Health

All that changed when tobacco companies admitted the harmful effects of smoking, which had been known but was covered up. The Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 required the following health warning, prescribed by Congress, to be placed on all cigarette packages sold in the United States:

CAUTION: CIGARETTE SMOKING MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH.

the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act

Gradually,  almost all public places in the United States have been made smoke-free.  But even though the smoking rate has steadily declined, smoking is still the leading cause of death and preventable illness in this country and much of the world.

Most people know that cigarette smoking harms our health, being directly linked to heart attacks, strokes, lung and other cancers, and emphysema.

But you may not know about some other conditions that smoking causes or aggravates.

pie_2015oct
2015-09-14 13.25.20

Smoking Harms Pregnancy and Babies

Smoking affects fertility, pregnancy, and infants. Smoking can make it harder for a woman to become pregnant and can affect a man’s sperm. Smoking increases risks for:

  • Preterm (early) delivery
  • Miscarriage
  • Stillbirth (death of the baby before birth)
  • Low birth weight
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (known as SIDS or crib death)
  • Ectopic (outside the uterus) pregnancy
  • Cleft lip in infants
2015-09-14 11.20.32

Smoking and Diabetes

Smoking is a cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus and can impair control of blood glucose (sugar).  The risk of developing diabetes is 30–40% higher for active smokers than nonsmokers. Diabetes is a major cause of atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries in the heart, kidney, legs, which is also aggravated by smoking.

Smoking and Bones

Smoking can affect bone health, leading to osteoporosis. Women past childbearing years who smoke have weaker bones than women who never smoked, and are at greater risk for broken bones.

Smokers tend to hurt more than non-smokers and narcotic-type pain meds don’t relieve pain as well as in non-smokers.

Smoking and Teeth

Smoking affects the health of your teeth and gums and can cause tooth loss. It yellows the teeth as tar builds up in the enamel, also leading to bad breath.

2015-09-14 11.14.48

Smoking and Eyes

Smoking can harm your eyesight. It increases your risk for

  • cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens that makes it hard to see) and
  • age-related macular degeneration (damage to a small spot near the center of the retina, the part of the eye needed for central vision).

Smoking and Inflammation

Smoking aggravates and may even cause several chronic inflammatory diseases, including

  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus- SLE or lupus
  • Multiple sclerosis

Smoking and Skin

And, it affects your appearance.

By decreasing circulation, smoking causes the skin to weaken and be more susceptible to infection, wrinkles and acne.

And it increases the risk for grey hair and baldness.

2015-09-14 11.53.11

This is the bad news. Fortunately, the good news is that there are many resources available to help you quit smoking. The link at the bottom will lead you to help. Of course, you should ask your own physician for advice.

 

2015-09-14 11.55.57
arrived at the falls

Here is the link to becoming

  SMOKE-FREE

For help from your state quitline:

1-800-QUIT–NOW (1-800-784-8669)

 

2015-09-14 11.56.43
at the base of the last fall

.

A character in this novel quit smoking.

Say Goodbye for Now- a book review

This post reviews Say Goodby for Now. Dr. Lucy lives alone except for the menagerie of injured animals she has doctored back to life. She likes her life the way it is, until she opens her home to three unexpected and unlikely guests. The book references important historical events.

Aletha Cress Oglesby, M.D.'s avatar by Aletha Cress Oglesby, M.D.
SAY GOODBYE FOR NOW- A Novel

Sharing the HEART of Health

I snapped all the photos in this post, including the cover photo.

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha