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The heart is a very common word, one of those we hear in everyday conversation such as ‘I’m heartbroken’, ‘my heart goes out to' and such.
In medieval period, the belief was that our emotions flow out of our heart, probably because of its response by increasing its beat during tensed periods. But then, what exactly is the heart?
What The Heart Looks Like
The heart is a grooved hollow muscular body part that releases blood via the circulatory system by its coordinated pulsating beats in systolic upward and diastolic downward movements.
The heart is an organ that is partitioned into four different compartments featuring two atrium up and two ventricles downward.
The heart is basically a muscle, overlaid on each other and situated at the left side of the chest and it’s as big as the size of a clenched fist
The heart is a unique muscle in the sense that it pumps blood throughout the entire body which gives oxygen and the required nutrients to the body system.
The heart is a kind of pump that ensures blood flows to the heart for pulmonary circulation and back to the heart to supply all other parts of the body in systemic circulation.
The blood vessels that surround the heart are called coronary arteries and veins. They convert oxygenated blood to the heart and return deoxygenated blood to the heart.
The heart equally features a tangle of nerves that flows through the heart and conveys nervous impulses that controls contraction and relaxation of the heart. The heart is enclosed in a muscular bag known as the pericardium.
It is very pertinent that we take good care of our heart because of its vital role in ensuring the flow of blood throughout the body. If we do not, of may result into series of ailments, generally known as diseases of the heart.
What we eat, how we live our daily lives and how often we do regular exercises has a major telling effect on the health of our heart.
Diseases of The Heart
Among others, the heart could have any of these disease conditions. The very first one is the coronary artery disease where over the years cholesterol can accumulate on the arteries of the heart and constrict blood flow through it.
This constricted arteries can result into complete blockage anytime an emboli (blood clot) passes through the narrow coronary arteries.
Stable angina pectoris is yet another heart disorder that can result from a narrowed heart artery and this could lead to chest pain or other pains when flexing the muscles.
The blockage stops the heart from getting additional oxygen that’s required for rigorous activities, but with adequate rest, this condition gets better.
Unstable angina pectoris is a chest pain or discomfiture which starts suddenly, deteriorating or happens while relaxing. This is an urgent condition that can usher in a heart attack, grave arrhythmia or heart attack.
Closely related to this is the myocardial infarction which results from a blocked artery of the heart. When the smooth muscles of the heart run short of oxygen, death is usually inevitable.
How To Take Care of Our Heart
The task of taking good care of our hearth and of course, knowing the relevant things to do to prevent heart diseases can’t be overstressed.
Watch the daily calorific intake levels
For instance, not so many know that there’s a daily limit if calorie that we ought to consume. Many go ahead to consume in excess of the needed calorie and the result is poor performance of the heart.
What calorie with regards to our age and body weight ought to be consumed daily? What are the alternatives and how do we ensure we don’t outshoot this without jeopardizing our comfort? This book provides the answer to this and many more in explicit terms.
The heart is very central to humans and one of the disorders is arrhythmia which is an irregular pulsating beats of the heart as a result of mixed electrical signals that it’s receiving. It could be dangerous especially if it’s not well-managed.
Sometimes, the heart muscles gets lignified and it’s stiff that it cannot pump blood with sufficient pressure to as normal. This can lead to shortness of breath and swollen legs.
Cardiomyopathy is yet another ailment that results from an inflamed and thickened heart that reduces the heart’s ability to pump blood.
The big question is how do we prevent our heart from these life-threatening conditions?
The mother nature is so fair to us, so much that it provided us with several options that we can adopt to prevent heart-related problems.
Lifestyle Changes
For instance, by simply modifying our lifestyles, we can avoid majority of the ailments of the heart.
Merely eating food that is low in fat and one that contains a little sodium level, getting some minutes of exercise on most weekdays, leaving smoking and drastically reducing alcohol consumption can reduce the risk of having heart diseases.
Eating good food does magic here
Nothing beats eating good food when it comes to the keeping a healthy heart. Carrots, oranges, apple, pawpaw, banana, pineapple and a host of other oranges can greatly improve the health of the heart and ensure steady supply of blood to the cardiac muscles.
This will prevent heart disorders such as cardiac arrest or atherosclerosis of the cardiac vessels.
Watch what you eat
Also, there is a need to control how much food you eat of you must maintain a healthy heart. This is an important tip that many do ignore. The truth is how much you eat is quite important as what you eat, if not more than.
Dishing too much and delaying and eating till you get filled can only supply you with excessive calories.
You can make use of a very small plate to regulate your serving portion.
It is advisable that you consume more of low-calorie foods that contains abundant nutrients such as fruits and vegetables and only take a small portion of high-calorie and high-sodium foods like refined, processed and fast foods.
This idea can help in shaping your diet and protect your heart from ailments.
Watching one’s cholesterol level is another means of checking heart diseases.
Accumulation of cholesterol in the blood can lead to reduction of the spaces between the blood vessels and this can cause high blood pressure.
Therefore, it is imperative that you know that even though your body needs cholesterol, too much of it can cause heart attack or stroke.
Watch your weight
Maintaining a healthy weight is another tip that is essential to keep a healthy heart. Having too much weight or obese condition makes one to be more prone to heart diseases.
This is majorly because thy are related to other heart disorders such as high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, escalated blood pressure a as well as diabetes. Keeping your weight in check can help in reducing these risks.
Avoid smoking cigarette if you care for a healthy heart.
Cigarette contains nicotine which shoots up the blood pressure and increase the chances of heart attack and possibly stroke.
Peradventure you’ve not been a smoker, never attempt to start it and if you’ve been smoking before, quit it as it will reduce your chances of having heart disease. You can speak to your doctor on the best plan to quit smoking for you.
Keeping the heart healthy also extends to proper stress management.
Stress is closely related to heart disorders in diverse ways. It can raise the blood pressure and high stress can result in heart attack.
Some people resort to eating too much, drinking alcohol to stupor or smoking as a means of managing stress, but then these are terrible means of managing stress. There ate better ways of going about it.
For instance you can take a walk out down the lawn, listening to songs, keeping your attention on something calm or peaceful and self-reflections.
Diabetes has a positive correlation with heart attack
Having diabetes increases the likelihood of coming up with heart diseases this is as a result of excess sugar from the blood that can affect the blood vessels and nerves that regulates the heart and blood vessels.
Therefore, it is essential that one checks his or her diabetes level and keep it under check if high.
Dear Steemit friends, these are a few healthy tips to maintaining a health and fully functional heart. I'll be back with more uncommon healthy tips to manage your heart to prevent heart diseases some other times.
Never forget that your heart is a vital organ to your body and preventing it from developing issues is better than finding solutions to these challenges.
REFERENCES
Understanding how your heart functions
Structure and Function of the Heart