Are you having trouble getting motivated for your next workout? Let\u2019s help you with that by introducing you to a very scary fact. The leading cause of death in the United States in 2016 was cardiovascular disease \u2013 614, 348 deaths.<\/p>\n
Generally, cardiovascular disease (CD) is thought of as a man\u2019s affliction. However, per the American Heart Association, about 45% of all female deaths occur due to some form of CD. Although roughly 28% of men die within one year after a serious heart attack, almost double that amount of women, 45% die from the same cause.<\/p>\n
As you may have guessed, your exercise regimen is a significant combatant to this disease, i.e., exercise is an important first step in CD prevention. But, exercise is not enough, you need to educate yourself about what CD is and how it affects your body. Although modern medicine can successfully diagnose, treat, and often cure a wide variety of diseases, it really is up to you to take the first step.<\/p>\n
Advertisement: American Heart Association (click on photo for more info)<\/em> The primary step is like that of fitness \u2013 take control of your nutrition, along with your personal habits and medical care.<\/p>\n What is cardiovascular disease?<\/strong><\/p>\n The definition of cardiovascular disease is used such that it is an umbrella term that is used to identify a host of diseases that affect not only your heart, but your circulatory system as well. You are likely familiar with the more common ones, which include:<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult sometimes to determine the cause of some of the above, but two issues seem to be the major cause. For example, smoking is a significant risk factor that appears to be a catalyst for CD. Smoking accelerates the oxidation of the cholesterol in your bloodstream so that it is deposited onto the walls of blood vessels at a faster rate. Thus, rather than the cholesterol being deposited a piece at a time as an image, it\u2019s like spray painting a section of your arteries at a time. Women who smoke suffer more severe consequences than men.<\/p>\n Advertisement: National Geographic (click on photo for more info)<\/em> Another major factor contributing to CD is obesity. Are you overweight or severely overweight? This can be a problem, which, as you guessed, can also be helped by a good exercise program. Obesity can help facilitate the onset of type II diabetes in adults. As compared to smoking, a woman with diabetes is at much greater risk than a man for developing complication from CD. Examples include stroke, congestive heart failure, other cardiovascular problems, and peripheral vascular disease. Compared to men, women that have diabetes are at an increased risk of having heart attacks so, pump the iron, hit the trail, or get on those treadmills ladies. Following a heart attack, women are also at risk for performing poorly during procedures such as bypass surgery and angioplasty. Don\u2019t get caught on the short end of the stick with this problem because it is potentially deadly.<\/p>\n High blood pressure is another contributing factor in cardiovascular disease because it\u2019s part of the metabolic syndrome (raised blood pressure, abdominal obesity, insulin resistance). Again, women must be more aware of the importance of monitoring their blood pressure and maintaining a more regimented contact with their doctors to ensure they are taking any proper medications and doing all the risk reduction strategies that will help keep their high blood pressure under control.<\/p>\n A very important factor is your state of mind so, relieve stress as much as you can. Although cholesterol and smoking may not be independent factors of this problem, stress and depression are often significant contributors to developing coronary artery disease. Depression is a very real enemy because people who are depressed have an increased risk of both a first cardiac event and subsequent ones and are more likely to die sooner, as well as to suffer further cardiovascular complications.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.myhealthandfitness.com\/US\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/AmerHeartAssoc-300x126.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.myhealthandfitness.com\/US\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/National-Geographic-Logo-300x201.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.myhealthandfitness.com\/US\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Webmd.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.myhealthandfitness.com\/US\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/JoinToday-e1505408936237.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"