Healthy Habits, - Healthy Life
Healthy Habits,
2 big risk factors of cardiovascular disease
Brought to you by the Clark County Health Department.
Your source for trusted information on various health, wellness, and safety topics!
By Katie Cook, BSN, RN The Clark County Health Department is happy to promote health and wellness to our county residents. In this twice-monthly column, we hope to provide readers with reliable health information. This series will be on heart health, including what it is, signs and symptoms of a heart attack, and habits to keep us happy and healthy.
In the last edition, we talked about the leading killer in our county, cardiac disease, as well as warning signs and symptoms of a heart attack, and what you can do to know your risk.
This edition is going to focus on two things we can do to decrease our heart’s workload. Now, don’t come at me when I tell you what they are.
Using products that contain nicotine and moderate alcohol consumption are two huge risk factors for cardiovascular disease. These habits are controversial, as they are often engrained in our culture and habits early on.
Did you know that it is not only the smoke from smoking cigarettes that can cause cardiac issues, but also the nicotine that can trigger inflammation and constriction of our blood vessels? This means that all products that contain nicotine – whether cigarettes, vapes, or chewing tobacco – are bad for your heart health.
According to the World Health Organization, quitting smoking is the number-one thing you can do to improve not just your heart health, but overall health as well.
Many of us probably know smoking is bad for our health overall, so I won’t bore you with those details. What I really want to do is to encourage people to make hearthealthy decisions, and to give you tools to help along the way.
But why is it so hard to quit smoking? Cardiologists state that quitting smoking is difficult not only because of the nicotine addiction, but because of the habits we associate with smoking.
Parag Joshi, a cardiologist with John Hopkins Medicine, states that in order to succeed, there are several steps you need to follow:
❤ Decide to quit. This is often the biggest hurdle. You have to WANT to quit, because it is HARD.
❤ Picture your motivations (grandchildren, health, finances) to help you quit.
❤ Tap into free resources such as smokefree.gov or 800-QUIT-NOW.
❤ Pick a quit date — this lets you prepare and taper off if needed. You don’t have to quit cold-turkey.
❤ Tell family and friends. This keeps you accountable, and helps others cheer you on.
❤ Get rid of smoking reminders like ash trays and lighters, as these often trigger cravings.
❤ Remove triggers by shaking up routines. This is especially helpful, as many of our triggers are habits or routines that revolve around smoking. Create substitute habits like going for a walk, talking to a friend, or reading when you would normally smoke. This may help you avoid weight gain while quitting as well.
❤ Consider quit aids such as nicotine patches, gum, or medications.
❤ Ask your doctor for help. They can help with medications and encouragement. Quitting is hard. That is why so many people teeter-totter, or pick the habit back up. Help and support are out there, so make sure to utilize the resources available!
Our next tricky topic is drinking alcohol. First, we are all human and give in to vices, habits, etc. I am not perfect, and do I occasionally have a beer or a glass of wine? Absolutely.
As Wisconsinites, drinking is deeply rooted in our culture. Many of us drink after a long day of work, to celebrate, at local fairs, and to socialize in general. The danger is that drinking can lead to alcoholism, which strains not only our liver, but our cardiovascular system as well.
The big factors with alcohol are frequency and amount. If you are a man and you are drinking more than one to two alcoholic beverages a night, or one for women, it is considered to be moderate alcohol consumption. This also applies to binge drinking on the weekends. This is detrimental to our health, and can cause more problems than just heart complications. Alcohol is a substantial source of calories, leading to weight gain. Your blood pressure and heart rate increase with alcohol consumption as well.
Many of the same tips for smoking cessation can be applied to alcohol cessation. If you or someone you know has a drinking problem, there are resources available. Resources include the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator at findtreatment.gov, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s Alcohol Treatment Navigator at alcoholtreatment. niaaa.nih.gov, or the National Treatment Referral Routing Service available at 1-800-662HELP.
