Heart disease tends to show symptoms as people grow older. It impacts how youthful, strong and mobile people feel. And if ignored it can seriously affect your quality of life.
Cardiovascular Disease: The Big Umbrella
“Cardiovascular disease is the term for all types of diseases that affect the heart or blood vessels, including coronary heart disease (clogged arteries), which can cause heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, and peripheral artery disease.”—National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute at National Institutes of Health
Heart disease is a type of cardiovascular disease.
“‘Heart disease’ is a catch-all phrase for a variety of conditions that affect the heart’s structure and function. Keep in mind: All heart diseases are cardiovascular diseases, but not all cardiovascular diseases are heart disease.
The most common type of heart disease is coronary heart disease. In fact, when people talk about ‘heart disease’ they often mean coronary heart disease.” —National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute at National Institutes of Health
Various high risk factors for heart disease build up over time and compromise cardiovascular health. They include:
high blood pressure
high cholesterol
smoking
diabetes
overweight and obesity
poor nutrition
physical inactivity
excessive alcohol use
vascular stiffness and inflammation, and
mental stress.
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Coronary heart disease is a type of heart disease.
“Coronary heart disease is often referred to simply as ‘heart disease’ although it’s not the only type of heart disease. Another term for it is coronary artery disease.
Coronary heart disease occurs when plaque (a combination of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances found in the blood) builds up in your arteries. You may have heard this called clogged arteries or atherosclerosis.
The plaque reduces the amount of oxygen-rich blood getting to your heart, which can cause chest pain (also called angina). Plaque can also lead to blood clots, which block blood flow and are the most common cause of a heart attack.” —National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute at National Institutes of Health
Cardiovascular disease can provoke heart attack, stroke and accelerated aging.
Impeded blood flow results in swelling of legs, feet, ankles or belly. It can even end in stroke since it deprives proper oxygen supply for the heart and the rest of the body. Plaque can also dislodge from an artery and cause a block resulting in heart attack.
Poor blood circulation causes chest pain (angina) and impaired cellular function. People experiencing angina report shortness of breath, fatigue and weakness.
Cardiovascular disease also directly accelerates the aging process. With poor blood circulation your body isn’t getting all the nutrients it needs as efficiently as possible. Nourishment of the body contributes to vitality. Balanced blood circulation is also associated with radiant younger looking skin.
The stress of experiencing the symptoms of cardiovascular disease also accelerates aging. This is because the body has to work overtime to compensate for all the imbalances it’s being confronted with.
Similar to our other muscles, you can strengthen the heart and even reverse some of its aging symptoms.
Delay, lower, or possibly avoid or reverse your risk of heart disease with these exercise strategies.
Regular Cardio Exercise
"Research continues to show that exercise is the best way to slow your heart's aging process," says Dr. Aaron Baggish, Director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Cardiovascular doctors often urge increasing exercise and physical activity to improve overall heart health. This is because physical exercise forces the heart to pump more blood throughout the body and to the muscles and lungs.
Over time, increased exercise relaxes blood vessels causing more efficient heart function. Relaxing the blood vessels helps improve blood flow, in turn, keeping blood pressure low.
Walking flat out improves cardiac risk factors.
You can pursue cardio workouts from beginner to advanced levels at your gym, or on the treadmill or bicycle. But a really simple way to get your cardio in is to walk briskly and consistently right in your neighborhood.
Fitness experts advise aiming to walk briskly for about 150 minutes per week all told. Many sources urge walking 5,000 to 7,000 total steps a week.
If you’re just beginning to endurance walk after years of a sedentary lifestyle, take it easy and build up to it.
Walk to the end of your driveway or to your street corner if it’s all you can do today. Tomorrow you’ll be able to walk further. Every day you walk above and beyond your customary steps of the day will build on the previous day’s accomplishment.
Remember and live by the old adage: “By the yard it’s hard. By the inch it’s a cinch.” In a month you’ll be amazed at how far you can walk without getting winded.
“When comparing the results of the most recent National Runners’ Health Study with the National Walkers’ Health Study, researchers found that the energy used for moderate-intensity walking and vigorous-intensity running resulted in similar reductions in risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease over the study’s six year period.” — Elaine Murtagh et al in Walking: the First Steps in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people who consistently walked several thousand steps a week improved many health factors:
blood pressure
slower resting heart rate
reduced body fat and body weight
lower cholesterol and
increased physical endurance.
The study also showed improved depression scores now that the participants were creating better quality of life.
Walking is a perfect fitness prescription for inactive people.
You don’t have to access walking like you do a fitness center or coach. People of all ages and social groups who are able to walk can make walking a practice. You don’t need money to walk and it poses little risk of injury.
“In a report that included findings from multiple well done studies, researchers found that walking reduced the risk of cardiovascular events by 31% and cut the risk of dying by 32%. These benefits were equally robust in men and women. Protection was evident even at distances of just five and a half miles per week and at a pace as casual as about two miles per hour. The people who walked longer distances, walked at a faster pace or both enjoyed the greatest protection.” — Walking: Your Steps to Health. Exciting benefits of walking for heart health, including lower risk of heart attack and stroke, Harvard Men’s Health Watch
If You Notice Breathlessness
When you do moderate intensity exercise like brisk walking, it’s normal to breathe a little harder. But if you’re breathless and can’t speak while walking, you should see a doctor.
This could be a sign of a potentially serious heart condition. Coronary heart disease (the cause of heart attacks), heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms like atrial fibrillation(1) can all cause breathlessness.
Most heart disease is treatable, but it’s vital to have it diagnosed before it’s too late.
If you can endurance-walk without getting winded, this can, at least in part, indicate you have a good level of cardiovascular vitality.
Walk briskly as consistently as possible to improve blood pressure. Lower cholesterol levels and reduce weight and obesity with a walking practice. Walking also helps with mental stress which is another risk factor for heart disease.
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Endnotes:
(1) Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm caused by rapid and irregular beating of the atrial chambers of the heart. Atrial chambers are two upper chambers of the heart that receive blood from the circulatory system.
Sources for this article:
Harvard Health Publishing. “Get Moving to Slow Cardiovascular Aging.” Harvard Health, www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/get-moving-to-slow-cardiovascular-aging.
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/heart-health-and-aging
Steinhilber, Brianna. “Why Walking Is the Most Underrated Form of Exercise.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 4 May 2018, www.nbcnews.com/better/health/why-walking-most-underrated-form-exercise-ncna797271.
Hanson, Sarah, and Andy Jones. “Is There Evidence That Walking Groups Have Health Benefits? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, 1 June 2015, bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/11/710.
Murtagh, Elaine M, et al. “Walking: the First Steps in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.” Current Opinion in Cardiology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3098122/.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/FactSheetKnowDiffDesign2020V4a.pdf