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According to the World Health Organisation, 1.79 crore people die every year due to some kind of heart disease. (Shutterstock)
According to the World Health Organisation, 1.79 crore people die every year due to some kind of heart disease. A few decades ago, heart disease used to occur only after 50 years of age, but today even young people are getting heart attacks. In such a situation, it is very important for the heart to be strong, but how will you understand whether your heart is weak or strong? The answer lies in these 10 questions:
According to Dr Ashish Saraju, cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic, if your upper BP is more than 130 and the lower BP is more than 80, it means that there is a lot of pressure on your heart and this is making your heart weak. “Due to high blood pressure, there is a risk of blood vessels breaking,” he says.
According to Dr Saraju, if your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents have or had heart disease, then you are also at a higher risk.
Today, a major cause of heart disease is high cholesterol. If fat is sticking to your arteries, it starts blocking the flow of blood, due to which less blood reaches the heart. Get your cholesterol checked. If your cholesterol is high, it means that your heart is also weak.
Smoking is harmful to your health. If you are a smoker, then not only do your lungs become weak, but you are also at a higher risk of heart disease.
If you do not exercise, even when you are young, it means that your heart is also gradually becoming weak. Therefore, do exercise for half an hour every day. This will keep the heart strong.
The health of your heart also depends on the type of food you eat. If you consume red meat, refined grains, added sugar, excess sugar, excess salt, processed food, fast food, excess oil, excess dairy products and alcohol, then your heart is getting weak. The more you consume these things, the weaker your heart will be.
According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, if someone has type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it means that they are twice as likely to have heart disease as compared to others.
The more stressed you are, the more likely you are to have a minor heart attack. Stress affects the heart the most. If you are constantly stressed, it means that your heart is weakening. The more days you are stressed, the weaker your heart will be.
According to research, a person’s heart starts weakening after 65 years. That means the heart is not as strong as it was before. But nowadays, due to bad habits, the heart starts ageing earlier.
Dr Ashish Saraju says that, according to research, men are more at risk of coronary heart disease. But if women reach the state of menopause, the risk remains the same.
