Cardiovascular disease is preventable and treatable, especially if the patient has prior health education.
By: Valentina Diaz Ospina
Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in the world and in most of the American countries, where it is estimated that they cause 1.9 million deaths per year.
Exclusively for the magazine Medicina y Salud Pública, Dr. Edmundo Jordán, past president of the Puerto Rican Society of Cardiology, spoke about the importance of preventing cardiovascular events through a healthy diet, physical exercise and avoiding tobacco use, among other measures.
Dr. Jordán clarifies that the most important thing to avoid cardiovascular complications is prevention, highlighting the need for the patient to know what the appropriate levels of pressure and thus have a good management of the pressure arterial.
“Every patient should be below 130 – 80, so it is important that the patient knows that his pressure it should be below that,” Dr. Jordan said.
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pressure levels
As explained by Dr. Jordán, there is a concept to establish each of the levels of pressure: the pressure normal or perfect should be below 120-80, pressure elevated between 120-129 the systolic and below 80 the diastolic, pressure high 130-80 or more.
Risk according to sex
From Dr. Jordán’s point of view, he explains that both sexes are prone to having cardiovascular disease, although in some cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks or heart attacks men are at greater risk. But when it comes to atrial fibrillation, those most at risk of a stroke are women.
silent killer hypertension
Dr. Jordan classifies the hypertension as a silent killer, because “a pressure uncontrolled disease does not generate symptoms, the patient can spend many years with the pressure high and not realizing it.
(See also healthy eating: an ally to prevent and control cardiovascular diseases)
How to control the pressure
Dr. Jordán points out that the cardiovascular disease it is preventable, treatable and can be controlled, for this the first thing that must be done is to modify the different lifestyles, where the patient must have a good diet, low in salt and carbohydrates, for this the Dash diet is recommended, which has guidelines for what you can eat and how much exercise you can get.
It should be noted that people with pressure uncontrolled smoking is prohibited, as this avoids triggering cardiovascular events.
“A good diet, good exercise, not smoking, good control of cholesterol and sugar, are the best preventive management to have less chance of a cardiovascular event and live longer,” said the specialist.
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