Think about the men in your life – your father, husband, brother or son. Now think about the steps both they and you take to stay in good health and prevent heart disease. If your mind is drawing a blank, now is the perfect time to bring up heart health.

More than 300,000 men die each year from heart disease in the United States. According to the CDC, that’s 1 out of every 4 men who die each year. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. The good news is heart disease deaths are steadily declining with increased awareness and preventive screenings. Taking proactive steps for your health and discussing your risks with a physician may keep you on the right side of the statistic!

While anyone can develop heart disease at any time, a man’s risk for heart disease begins to rise greatly starting at 45 years old. Like with most conditions, living a healthy lifestyle that includes eating a balanced diet, avoiding alcohol, and being physically active is your best preventive measure for heart disease. Several medical conditions, such as diabetes and obesity, can also increase your risk of developing heart disease. Be sure to discuss your full medical history with a physician to determine the appropriate steps to reduce your risk of heart disease.

Below are a few steps everyone can take to lower their risk:

  • Eat at least 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day.
  • Maintain a healthy cholesterol level by eating foods low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. The CDC recommends having your cholesterol checked every five years.
  • Maintain a healthy blood pressure by limiting sodium in your diet and getting regular blood pressure screenings.
  • Maintain a healthy body weight.
  • Exercise regularly. The Surgeon General recommends that adults should participate in 2.5 hours of activity a week to maintain a healthy heart.
  • Avoid smoking cigarettes. Smoking greatly increases your risk for heart disease.
  • Manage your diabetes by monitoring your blood sugar levels closely.

Articles by tag

2020 2021-top-workplace 4th-of-July ACLS AED air-purification allentown Allergies Announcement Antibiotics anxiety Aspen Hill coming soon Asthma award awards back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best of Best urgent care Best urgent care VA beach best-for-families Bestof best-of best-of-2019 Best-of-2020 best-of-award best-of-awards bestofcountytimes Best-of-Jewish-times-winner Best-Urgent-Care Best-urgent-Care-Bowie-Blade-News best-workplace bethlehem Biking Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS Blueberries Camping capital-gazette careers Cholesterol Circadian-Rhythm Cold cold-prevention colon-cancer concussion coronavirus covid-19 COVID-19-Test CPR cramp-prevention Dehydration dental-health Depression Dermatitis Diabetes drowning Drug Screening Dry-Skin eastern-pa easton Eating-Disorder employees employment Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health face-mask Fall fall-sports Farmer's-Market First-Aid Fitness Flu flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football For Men For Parents For Women for-moms for-parents fredericksburg Gastrointestinal General Generation-X-Health Gift-Ideas Goals Halloween hand-foot-and-mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg headache Head-Lice Health Healthcare health-history health-symptoms Healthy Living healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps Heart Heart-Disease Heart-Health Heat heat-exhaustion heat-safety hiking Holiday holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-shield Hydration Illness Inclusivity Inclusivity & Accessibility inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention Insect-Stings insurance jetlag jobs Kidney Kwanzaa Laughter lehigh-valley life-support-class Lightning maryland Mask meal-prep mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma memory-retention Men's-Health mental-health Migrane millennial Millennials montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Mood Improvement Movember MRSA new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year New-Year's northern-va northern-virginia nova Now open in Annandale Nutrition Occupational Health ocean-safety osteoporosis outdoors Paddle-Sports PALS Parenting Parenting-Tips parent-tips patient-first pennsylvania pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Power-Outage Pregnancy probiotics Productivity Protein recipe Recipes registration resolutions richmond River running safety Safety Tips safety-tips Seasonal-Affective-Disorder shin-splings Sickness-Prevention simply-the-best skin sleep Smoke-Detector Smoking Snow soccer sore-throat south-jersey Sports Sports-Physicals spring-cleaning St.-Patrick's-Day Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress stress-managment Stroke summer summer-sports Sunburn Sunglasses Sun-Safety sunscreen Swimmer's-ear swimming TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething Thyroid tick tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace Travel traveling-tips travel-tips Travel-Vaccines urgent-care Urinary-health vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentine's-Day Valentines-Day Video Vitamin-D volunteering Walking washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 Water-Sports Weight-Lifting wellness Winter Workouts Yard-Work Yearly-Physical