Category - Heart Health

Heart Health: The heart beats about 2.5 billion times over an individual’s lifetime by pushing millions of gallons of blood to every part of the body. This steady flow carries oxygen, fuel, hormones, other compounds, and essential cells while also taking away the waste products of metabolism. However, when the heart stops, the essential functions start to fail and given the heart’s never-ending workload, it can also fail. The heart can be brought down by a poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, infection, unfortunate genes, and more. One of the key problems is atherosclerosis which is the accumulation of cholesterol-rich plaque inside the arteries. This plaque can limit the blood flow through the arteries, coronary arteries and other arteries throughout the body. When the plaque breaks apart, it can cause a heart attack or stroke to an individual. Although the plaque can lead individuals to develop some form of cardiovascular disease (diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels) as they get older. A healthy lifestyle, especially when starting early can go a long way to prevent cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle changes and medications can help prevent heart-harming illnesses, like high blood pressure or high cholesterol, before they cause extreme damage. While medications, operations, and devices that can help support the heart if damage occurs.