Heart attack is a condition with a very high incidence, especially in our country. Both our eating habits and our lifestyle actually make us more prone to many cardiovascular diseases. There are many factors that cause heart disease. Some of these factors are such that we can change, and some are such that we cannot.

Risk Factors That Cannot Be Changed:

– Age: The risk of heart disease increases with advancing age. The incidence of heart disease increases especially in men over the age of 45 and in women over the age of 55. People in these age groups need to be informed about heart health and take precautions through necessary checks.

– Gender: Some factors may affect men and women differently. For example, in women, the estrogen hormone appears as a protective factor until menopause. On the other hand, women with diabetes have a much higher risk of heart disease than men with diabetes.

– Ethnicity: There are differences in the risk of heart disease according to ethnic origins. For example, while the risk of heart disease is observed to be quite high in African individuals, these rates are quite low in East Asia. Genetics, nutritional habits and life habits play a significant role in these rates.

– family history: People who have a family history of heart disease at an early age have a very high risk of heart disease. This reveals the importance of factors related to both genetics and living conditions.

Modifiable Risk Factors:

– Blood Pressure Control: Hypertension is one of the biggest risk factors in cardiovascular diseases. High blood pressure plays a large role in both heart attack and stroke cases. Blood pressure control is a health check that every adult should do at least once a year, and people with high blood pressure should do it more frequently. To keep your blood pressure under control, you can start with simple measures such as reducing the amount of salt consumed, doing even mild exercise, and reducing the frequency of eating ready-made meals from outside, and then, if necessary, medication treatment can be started.

– Control of Cholesterol and Blood Lipids: High cholesterol is a disease that causes vascular occlusion. Narrowing or clogging of your arteries due to cholesterol deposits is a factor that significantly increases your risk of heart attack. You have the chance to control your cholesterol level with changes in your sports and eating habits. However, in some cases, these measures are not sufficient and the use of statin group drugs is required. It is especially important for people with vascular problems, people with a family history of heart attack, and people with chronic diseases to effectively control their cholesterol. Unfortunately, high cholesterol is not a condition that gives early symptoms. Therefore, people who do not have a health check may live with this problem for many years and irreparable damage may occur to their veins. Therefore, it is very important for everyone to have their blood lipids checked by having a check-up once a year, starting from an early age.

– Weight Control: Perhaps one of the biggest problems that human beings have been experiencing for a very long time is the inability to lose weight. Obesity problems can sometimes be observed due to genetics, sometimes to eating habits, and sometimes to living conditions. Weight is a factor that increases the risks of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Therefore, maintaining a healthy weight control can prevent factors that may lead to heart diseases.

– Healthy eating: Even the word healthy eating is enough to create negative thoughts in people! When we talk about healthy nutrition, we don't talk about eating broccoli and salad. A person should not be expected to suddenly change his entire diet and consume vegetables and lean meat. The healthier you can make your current diet, the more profitable you will be. If you drink twice a week, make it once a week. If you eat fast food twice a week, reduce it to once. If you eat sweets most days of the week, reduce the frequency. If you add two spoons of solid oil to the rice you cook, reduce it to one spoon or choose the healthier olive oil. When you are hungry, instead of keeping biscuits or wafers at home to suppress your hunger, choose snacks with higher nutritional value such as raw almonds, walnuts and dried apricots.

Our eating habits are part of our lifestyle. We turn to unhealthy food alternatives to socialize, sometimes due to stress, and sometimes due to lack of time. Changing these completely requires changing our lives seriously, which is quite difficult. Therefore, if we gradually reduce unhealthy eating and drinking habits in our lives, not by taking radical steps but by taking small steps and making healthy alternatives a habit, we will have come a long way without even realizing it.

– Exercise: The role of sports in our lives is very important. It has been proven that sports have a positive effect on cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and many other chronic problems. But unfortunately, today's working conditions have made us very inactive. Due to the structure of our country, we have made it a habit to travel even the smallest distances with our cars. This being the case, we are in a serious shortcoming in terms of action. Like nutrition, exercise should not be a radical change. If you force a person who has never done any sports in his life to go to the gym for an hour five days a week, this situation will not be permanent and boredom will develop after a short time. So when you start exercising, remember that you are doing this for your health. Losing weight suddenly or being at a perfect fitness level all of a sudden are not realistic expectations. The realistic thing to do is to go slightly above your current level of activity. If you do not exercise at all, even a 10-minute walk in the neighborhood three days a week will make a positive contribution. After a while, 10 minutes increases to 15-20 minutes, then half an hour, and maybe an additional movement can be done later. Remember that a very challenging sports program will not be permanent. Instead, start with small goals and gradually build them larger. In fact, grow it so slowly that you feel a little guilty for not getting the amount of exercise you could. This will give you more motivation.

– Smoking: People who smoke are tired of hearing about the harms of smoking. Repeating these will not do any good. First the person must really want to quit smoking. If he really wants to but cannot succeed, then nicotine patches or smoking cessation drugs can be used. But if there really is no will to quit smoking, then you can at least limit the number of cigarettes you smoke by reducing the factors that trigger smoking. For example, if coffee and alcohol lead you to smoke more, you can reduce your consumption even slightly and save 1-2 cigarettes a day. In fact, to keep track of your own progress, count how many cigarettes you smoke daily and write them down somewhere. Set a goal for yourself and try to reach that goal gradually. For example, if you smoke an average of 20 cigarettes a day, you can aim to reduce it to 18 at first and then to 15. In this way, you will not put too much pressure on yourself and you will gradually change your cigarette consumption to a less harmful form.

– Sleep patterns: Sleeping patterns are generally an element that is not emphasized enough. Being sleep deprived or having an irregular sleeping habit seriously affects our quality of life. Adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep a day. Not getting enough sleep will increase your risk of cholesterol, blood pressure and obesity. In addition, if you get enough sleep but feel tired when you wake up or feel the need to sleep during the day, factors such as sleep apnea, anemia, and vitamin deficiencies may also lie behind this. It is very important to investigate these and eliminate them if present.

I wish you healthy days,
Dr. Ahmet Ozyigit

Note: Dr. To make an appointment with Ahmet Özyigit 0392 444 3548 You can call or info@elitenicosia.com You can send an e-mail to .