Helpful Tips
Living with heart disease may mean making some changes in your lifestyle. Understanding the risk factors that contribute to the development of a cardiovascular condition will help you to make the changes in your life that will protect your heart and manage your disease. Talk to your physician about a specific plan to control your risk factors.
Complement your health plan
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Quit Smoking
Our Quit the Nic! program can help.
Manage your weight
Ideally your body mass index (BMI) should be between 18.5-24.9 kg/m2. Calculate your weight using BCN’s body mass index calculator.
Exercise daily
Exercise burns calories, helps to control cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels in diabetes and may lower blood pressure. Exercise also strengthens the heart muscle and makes arteries more flexible. You should do some type of physical activity (at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity) on most, preferably all, days of the week.
All children over 2 should get 30 minutes of fun exercise a day. They should also do at least 30 minutes of vigorous physical activity three to four days a week.
WalkingWorks offers a new approach to physical activity programs. It has been designed to fit the widest range of lifestyles and health conditions. Consult your primary care physician before starting a vigorous exercise program, especially if you have an existing health condition.
Control your blood pressure
High blood pressure increases the heart's workload, causing the heart to enlarge and weaken over time. It also increases the risk of congestive heart failure, stroke and heart attack. When high blood pressure exists with obesity, smoking, high blood cholesterol levels or diabetes, the risk of heart attack or stroke increases several times.
To find out if your blood pressure is high, have it checked by a health care professional. Adults should have their pressure checked every two years. Children should have their pressure checked at all routine health visits beginning at age 3.
| Category | Top number systolic (mmHg) | Bottom number diastolic (mmHg) | Get checked at least: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Less than 120 | Less than 80 | Every two years |
| Prehypertension | 120-139 | 80-89 | Annually |
| Stage 1 hypertension | 140-159 | 90-99 | Monthly |
| Stage 2 Hypertension | 160 or higher | 100 or higher | Weekly |
Blood pressure can vary with activity and age, but a healthy adult generally has a top number less than 120 mmHg and a bottom number less than 80 mmHg at rest. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the National Institutes of Health recommend a target blood pressure of less than 130/80 mmHg for people with diabetes.
Control your blood cholesterol
When you have your cholesterol checked, your results will show three different levels of cholesterol.
- Total cholesterol, the sum of all the cholesterol in your blood
- LDL (low-density lipoprotein), known as the "bad" kind of cholesterol because too much of it will slowly build up in the walls of the arteries that feed blood to the heart and brain. Over time this buildup can block the blood flow causing a heart attack or stroke.
- HDL (high-density lipoprotein) is the "good" cholesterol because it carries excess cholesterol back to the liver to be removed from the body.
Half of all Americans have total cholesterol levels that are too high (200 mg/dL or higher). High cholesterol has no symptoms, so the only way to know your cholesterol level is high is by having it checked by a health care professional. If you are an adult (age 18 or older), you should have your cholesterol tested at least once every five years. If you have ischemic vascular disease, had a heart attack or undergone coronary angioplasty or bypass, you should have your cholesterol level checked at least annually or more frequently until a therapeutic/normal level is reached.
| LDL Cholesterol | Risk Level |
|---|---|
| Less than 100mg/dl | Optimal |
| 100-129 mg/dl | Near optimal/above optimal |
| 130-159 mg/dl | Borderline high |
| 160-189 mg/dl | High |
| 190 and above | Very high |
| HDL Cholesterol | Risk Level |
| Less than 40mg/dl | Undesirable |
| 60 mg/dl or more | Desirable |
| Total Cholesterol | Risk Level |
| Less than 200mg/dl | Desirable |
| 200-239 mg/dl | Borderline high |
| 240 mg/dl and over | High |
If your family has a history of heart attack, high cholesterol or treatment for coronary artery disease before age 55, the AHA recommends that you have your child's cholesterol level checked.
Watch what your children eat. Children (ages 2 and older) should have less than 300 mg of cholesterol a day and their total calories should include no more than 30 percent fat.
Control your blood sugar levels
Controlling blood sugar levels, which you can learn about in our Staying Healthy section, by keeping hemoglobin A1c below seven percent.
page modified 03/20/2009