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Lifestyle and home remedies
By Mayo Clinic staffYou can take steps to prevent acute coronary syndrome or improve your symptoms.
- Don't smoke. If you smoke, the most important thing you can do to improve your heart's health is to stop. Talk to your doctor if you're having trouble with quitting.
- Eat a heart-healthy diet. Too much saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet can narrow arteries to your heart. Follow the advice of your doctor and dietitian on eating a heart-healthy diet that includes plenty of whole grains, lean meat, low-fat dairy, and fruits and vegetables. Also, limit the salt in your diet. Eating too much salt and saturated or trans fats will increase your blood pressure and cholesterol.
- Exercise regularly. Regular exercise helps improve heart muscle function and keeps blood flowing through your arteries. It can also reduce your risk of acute coronary syndrome by helping you to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, and control diabetes, elevated cholesterol and high blood pressure. Exercise doesn't have to be vigorous. For example, walking 30 minutes a day five days a week can improve your health.
- Check your cholesterol. Have your blood cholesterol levels checked regularly, through a blood test at your doctor's office. If your cholesterol levels are undesirably high, your doctor can prescribe changes to your diet and medications to help lower the numbers and protect your cardiovascular health. It's recommended that overall cholesterol levels be below 200 mg/dL, and that high density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol (HDL) levels be above 40 mg/dL for men and above 50 mg/dL for women. Recommended LDL cholesterol levels depend on your heart disease risk. For those with a low risk of heart disease, LDL cholesterol should be below 130 mg/dL. In people with a moderate risk, a level of less than 100 mg/dL is recommended. For those with a high risk of heart disease, including people who've already had a heart attack or who have diabetes, it's recommended that LDL levels be below 70 mg/dL.
- Control your blood pressure. Have your blood pressure checked at least every two years. Your doctor may recommend more frequent checks if you have high blood pressure or a history of heart disease. Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).
- Maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight strains your heart and can contribute to high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Losing weight can lower your risk of acute coronary syndrome.
- Manage stress. To reduce your risk of a heart attack, reduce stress in your day-to-day activities. Rethink workaholic habits and find healthy ways to minimize or deal with stressful events in your life.
- Drink alcohol in moderation. Drinking more than one to two alcoholic drinks a day raises blood pressure, so cut back on your drinking if necessary. From a heart-healthy standpoint, one to two drinks daily is fine for men, and women can have one alcoholic beverage a day. One drink is equivalent to 12 ounces (355 milliliters, or mL) of beer, 4 ounces (118 mL) of wine or 1.5 ounces (44 mL) of an 80-proof liquor.
References
- Kumar A, et al. Acute coronary syndromes: Diagnosis and management, part I. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2009;84:917.
- Acute coronary syndromes. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec07/ch073/ch073c.html. Accessed Sept. 3, 2010.
- What is angina? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Angina/Angina_All.html. Accessed Sept. 3, 2010.
- Risk factors and coronary heart disease. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/print_presenter.jhtml?identifier=4726. Accessed Sept. 7, 2010.
- Scirica BM. Acute coronary syndrome: Emerging tools for diagnosis and risk assessment. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2010;55:1403.
- Lifestyle changes. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/PreventionTreatmentofHeartAttack/Lifestyle-Changes_UCM_303934_Article.jsp. Accessed Sept. 7, 2010.
- Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 22, 2010.
- Anderson CF (expert opinion) Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 8, 2010.
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