Mid-Michigan Health cardiologist explains the importance of American heart month
February is American Heart Month, and the perfect time to learn healthy practices for taking care of one of the most important parts of your body.
Cardiologist Abraham Salacata says Americans have good reason to pay close attention to their heart health.
“National Heart Month was originally created as a way of raising awareness about heart disease in the community. Although we’ve made quite a lot of strides in treating heart disease, it remains the number one killer of Americans, and therefore, it still deserves a lot of attention.”
Dr. Salacata says even with the advancement of medicine, risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and smoking are some the biggest indicators as to whether a person will develop heart disease, but some steps can be taken to prevent and combat the ailment.
“Well it’s important to obviously follow your doctor, but we’re recommending first and foremost changes in lifestyle. So we’re recommending that adults have at least 30 minutes of active exercise four times a week at the least, and we’re also encouraging people to adopt a healthier diet, moving away from eating red meat and adopting more of a plant based or Mediterranean style diet.”
Some indicators of early onset of the disease include fatigue, chest discomfort, and shortness of breath.
Anyone experiencing these symptoms should immediately contact their doctor.
