FYI from WebMD. Please take care of your heart.
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How to Wreck Your Heart
What not to do for your heart's health.
By Shahreen Abedin
WebMD FeatureReviewed by Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACCWhen it comes to
the heart?s health, there are some things you can?t control -- like
getting older, or having a parent with heart disease. But there are
many more things you can do to lower chances of sabotaging your ticker.

?An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure in this
instance,? says Gregg Fonarow, MD, an American Heart Association
spokesman and associate chief of UCLA's division of cardiology.

To help your heart keep on keeping on, here are 10 things not to do.


1. Keep smoking.
A major cause of heart disease, smoking raises blood pressure, causes
blood clots, and makes it harder to exercise. And it?s the number one
preventable cause of premature death in the U.S., according to the
American Heart Association.

Even though it may be one of the most difficult habits to quit, the
rewards of stopping smoking are perhaps the greatest and most
immediate.

When you toss the smokes, your heart risk goes down within just a few
days of quitting. Within a year, your risk is cut by half. After 10
years of living smoke-free, it?s as if you never smoked at all, says
Nieca Goldberg, MD, cardiologist and director of the New York
University Women?s Heart Program.

2. Ignore that chest pain.
When your heart literally aches and you don?t know why, it?s time to
get checked out.

If you have chest pains while exercising, that?s a red flag. But if it
happens after a heavy meal, it?s more likely to be your stomach causing
trouble, says Goldberg, who is an American Heart Association
spokeswoman and author of Dr. Nieca Goldberg?s Complete Guide to Women?
s Health.

If you feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest and you?re
breaking out in a sweat, that?s an urgent matter; call 911.

Regardless of what you?re feeling or when, even a doctor can?t tell if
you?re in real trouble over the phone. So you have to seek medical
attention in person to get a definitive answer for chest pain.

What not to do for your heart's health.3. Just accept that it?s in your
genes.
Having a family history of heart disease is a strong risk factor for
predicting your own chances of heart trouble.

Having a parent who has had an early heart attack doubles the risk for
men having one; in women the risk goes up by about 70%, according to an
American Heart Association report from December 2010.

?But heart disease isn?t just what you inherit. It?s also what you do
about it,? Goldberg tells WebMD. You can still beat the odds and
dramatically lower your risks by doing other heart-friendly things.

For example, lowering your LDL (that?s the bad form of cholesterol) by
50% will cut your risks in half, Goldberg says.

And a 1998 study from the Journal of the American Medical Association
showed that taking a cholesterol-lowering statin drug can help people
with a family history of heart disease lower their risk to less than
someone with zero family history. That means in some cases, you could
erase your risk.

Bottom line: There?s no need to let your family history determine your
destiny.



4. Skip your checkup.
When you don?t get checked out regularly by a doctor, you might not
realize if you have some of the silent heart risk factors that are
harder to detect, says Fonarow, who directs the Ahmanson-UCLA
Cardiomyopathy Center.

Some of the most common, symptom-free cardiovascular issues are also
some of the most easily treated, such as high cholesterol and high
blood pressure.

If the cost of a checkup is holding you back, you may have more options
than you think. Federally funded health centers allow patients to pay
what they can. And local hospitals often offer information about
clinics that accept sliding scale payments. Call your local health
department for leads.

5. Be a couch potato.
?Being sedentary increases heart risks. Physical activity simply
translates to living longer,? Fonarow says.

Exercise helps lower blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels,
encourages weight loss, benefits blood vessel function, and cuts
stress, among other things.

Even if you haven?t been active for the last 20 years, it?s never too
late to make an impact with exercise. Just be sure to talk to a doctor
before you start a new fitness regimen. Tell your doctor exactly what
you plan to do, or ask his advice, if you're looking for suggestions.

6. Stop taking your medications.
If you stop taking your heart medications, you may not feel better or
worse afterward. But you could still be heading for a cardiac
catastrophe.

?It?s only when you?re struck with a heart attack or stroke that many
people think, ?Oh, I should really keep taking my statin drug to lower
my cholesterol,?? Fonarow says. He advises looking at heart medications
as ?insurance? against heart attack and stroke.

What not to do for your heart's health.7. Forget your growing waistline
-- just buy some bigger pants.
If your belt size is slowly getting bigger, that?s something to worry
about.

Excess fat tissue in the midsection -- giving you an apple-shaped
figure -- could mean metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a combination of risk factors that can lead to
heart disease, stroke, or diabetes, through hardening of the arteries,
insulin resistance, and inflammation.

A hefty waistline is linked to doubling your risk of heart disease,
Goldberg says. That?s good reason to redouble your efforts to get in
shape through a healthy lifestyle. It's not just about your clothes
size.

8. Never mind when your heart flutters.
A fluttering feeling in your heart that causes chest discomfort,
shortness of breath, the feeling you could faint, or actual fainting
could be a sign of a heart arrhythmia. That?s an electrical problem
with your heart, causing it to beat either too fast, too slow, or just
irregularly.

If you feel a flutter for a second and it goes away, that?s no big
deal, Goldberg tells WebMD. You can probably chalk that up to caffeine,
chocolate, asthma, or maybe some cold medications you took. But if it
happens frequently or is associated with other symptoms, seek medical
attention immediately.

9. Let your blood pressure run amok.
?A good way to wreck your heart is to leave your blood pressure
elevated and untreated,? Fonarow says. Only about half of American
adults with high blood pressure keep it under control, he says.

Allowing blood pressure to get out of hand makes the heart work harder
and enlarge, leading to heart failure. It can also cause hardened
arteries, raising your risks for heart attack, stroke, and other
problems.

Even though symptoms of high blood pressure are rare, it?s relatively
easy to diagnose. You can even check it yourself with a home blood
pressure monitor. Diet, exercise, and medications (if needed) can treat
high blood pressure.

10. Eat with abandon.
Being overweight or obese contributes to heart disease, heart failure,
and a shorter lifespan, Fonarow says.

No doubt, lasting weight loss is tough to accomplish. But the good news
is, even moderate weight loss can improve heart risk factors.

Aim for a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and nuts; low in saturated
fat and cholesterol; and with almost no trans fats. This does not mean
you need to avoid fat altogether. Fats found in fish, olives and olive
oil, nuts, and avocados are heart-healthy and should be eaten in
moderation.

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