How Can Coronary Microvascular Disease Be
Prevented?
No specific studies have been done on how to prevent
coronary microvascular disease (MVD). It's not yet known how or in what way
preventing the condition differs from preventing
coronary
artery disease (CAD). Coronary MVD affects the small coronary arteries in
the heart, while CAD affects the large coronary arteries.
You can prevent or delay CAD by taking action to
reduce your risk factors. You can't control some risk factors such as age and
family history of heart disease. However, you can take steps to lower or
control other risk factors such as
high
blood pressure,
overweight
and obesity,
high
blood cholesterol,
diabetes, and smoking.
Regardless of your age or family history, you can
lower your risk of heart disease with lifestyle changes. These changes include:
- Following a heart healthy eating plan. Two heart
healthy eating plans are the
Dietary
Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet (for people who have high blood
pressure) and the
Therapeutic
Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet (for people who have high blood
cholesterol).
- Increasing your physical activity. Aim for at
least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, and preferably, all
days of the week. If you're trying to manage your weight and keep from gaining
weight, try to get 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical
activity on most days of the week.
- Quitting smoking, if you smoke.
- Losing
weight, if you're overweight.
- Reducing your stress level.
It's also important to learn more about heart
disease and the kinds of habits and conditions that can increase your risk.
- Talk to your doctor about your risk factors for
heart disease and how to control them.
- Know your numbersask your doctor for these
three tests and have the results explained to you.
- Lipid profile. This test measures total
cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (sometimes called bad cholesterol), HDL
cholesterol (sometimes called good cholesterol), and triglycerides (another
form of fat in the blood).
- Blood pressure.
- Fasting blood glucose. This test is for
diabetes.
- Know your body mass index (BMI) and waist
circumference. BMI is an estimate of body fat that's calculated from your
height and weight. You can use the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's
online BMI calculator to figure
out your BMI. To measure your waistline, stand and place a tape measure around
your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you
breathe out.
- Take medicines for lowering cholesterol and blood
pressure and controlling diabetes as your doctor prescribes.
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