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Coronary heart disease is a woman's concern. Every woman's concern. One in ten American women 45 to 64 years of age has some form of heart disease, and this increases to one in four women over 65. Another 1.6 million women have had a stroke. Both heart disease and stroke are known as cardiovascular diseases, which are serious disorders of the heart and blood vessel system.
Even low- to moderate-intensity activity can help lower the risk of heart disease. Examples of such activity are pleasure walking, stair climbing, gardening, yard-work, moderate-to-heavy housework, dancing, and home exercise. To get heart benefits from these activities, do one or more of them every day. More vigorous exercise improves the fitness of the heart, which can lower heart disease risk still more. This kind of activity is called "aerobic" and includes jogging, swimming, and jumping rope. Walking, bicycling, and dancing can also strengthen your heart, if you do them briskly for at least 30 minutes, three or four times a week. Most people do not need to see a doctor before they start a gradual, sensible pro-gram of physical activity. But do consult your doctor before you start or increase physical activity if you: have heart trouble or have had a heart attack are taking medicine for high blood pressure or a heart condition are over 50 years old and are not used to energetic activity have a family history of developing heart disease at a young age Risk factors are habits or traits that make a person more likely to develop a disease. Many of those for heart disease can be controlled. These include: Cigarette smoking High blood pressure High blood cholesterol Overweight Physical inactivity Diabetes The more risk factors you have, the greater your risk. So take action-take control! Go slow. Build up your activity level gradually. For example, if you are inactive now and want to begin walking regularly, you might begin slowly with a 10-15-minute walk, three times a week. As you become more fit, you can increase the sessions to every day, and if you wish, you can make each session longer. If you choose a fairly vigorous activity, begin each session slowly. Allow a 5-minute period of stretching and slow movement to give your body a chance to "warm up." At the end of your workout, take another 5 minutes to "cool down" with a slower exercise pace. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Be Physically Active in Women's Health is owned by . Permission to republish Be Physically Active in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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