Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004. Control other health conditions (such as diabetes).Eat low-fat, low-salt foods most of the time.In addition to your ABCS, several lifestyle choices can help protect your heart and brain health. Blood pressure: Control your blood pressure.Before taking aspirin, talk to your doctor about whether aspirin is right for you. But do not take aspirin if you think you are having a stroke. Aspirin: Aspirin may help reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke.A good place to start is with the ABCS of heart health: 14 It’s important to know your risk for heart disease and stroke and to take action to reduce that risk. The federal government’s Million Hearts® external icon initiative aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes within five years. The good news is that many risk factors for heart disease and stroke can be prevented or controlled. Many people are at high risk for these diseases and don’t know it. Heart disease and stroke are major causes of death and disability in the United States. How Can Heart Disease and Stroke Be Prevented? These changes can lead to a heart attack. Even briefly breathing secondhand smoke can damage the lining of blood vessels and cause your blood to become stickier.
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Cause thickening and narrowing of blood vessels.Increase the buildup of plaque (fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances) in blood vessels.Damage cells that line the blood vessels.Make blood sticky and more likely to clot, which can block blood flow to the heart and brain.Raise triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood).Smoking is a major cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and causes one of every four deaths from CVD. Top of Page How Is Smoking Related to Heart Disease and Stroke? 7 Stroke can cause disability (such as paralysis, muscle weakness, trouble speaking, or memory loss) 7 or death. Arrhythmia (when the heart beats too fast, too slow, or irregularly) 2, 6Ī stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is blocked or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, causing parts of the brain to become damaged or die.
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Heart failure (when the heart cannot pump enough blood and oxygen to support other organs) 2, 5.Heart attack (when blood flow to the heart becomes blocked and a section of the heart muscle is damaged or dies) 2, 4.Coronary heart disease occurs when the walls of arteries that carry blood to the heart are narrowed by plaque, a process known as atherosclerosis. The most common type in the United States is coronary heart disease (also known as coronary artery disease). Heart disease includes several types of heart conditions. Heart disease and stroke are cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) diseases (CVDs).