Has you ticker been lately creating some trouble for you? It’s time to take it easy on those beer bottles and frozen dinners. The things you enjoy the most might be causing a lot of trouble for your heart, which you will experience as you age.
So, attention to-be senior citizens! You better start making some changes in your lifestyle. Otherwise, you might not age gracefully.
So, how does aging affect your heart health?
When you reach the age of 65, your heart beats slower. If you try to do any strenuous activity that your personal strength cannot keep up with, it takes a toll on your heart muscles. Perhaps the two most harmful factors that destroy your heart health beyond repair are weight gain and diabetes.
These cause fatty deposits and plaque buildup that block the arteries. This prevents the heart from pumping blood efficiently to the heart and other parts of the body, which causes a stroke.
Effect of Changes
- Emotional stress
- Certain medicines
- Physical exertion
- Injuries
- Illness
- Infections
Common Aging Problems
- Arrhythmias: abnormal heart rhythms.
- Angina:when flow of blood to the heart experiences a decrease, chest pain and shortness of breath is felt, which may be an indication of heart disease.
- Anemia:might be caused due to chronic infections, malnutrition and blood loss from complications involving the gastrointestinal tract.
- Arteriosclerosis: when fatty plaque gets deposited in the blood vessels, the arteries harden and narrow down the channel, eventually blocking it.
While exercise and regular heart checkups can keep you on track, you still need to monitor a many things in your lifestyle that might lead to heart issues as you age.
Following are a few tips to maintaining your heart health as you reach your late 50s:
Stay Active
Exercise allows you to manage your blood pressure, weight, stress and heart performance. An exercise routine will help your heart to effectively pump oxygen rich blood to other parts of the body, which will prevent any kind of stiffness or organs from failing.
Eat Healthy
It goes without saying that if you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, you adopt a balanced diet. Avoid Trans fats, as well as refined sugar. Limit the amount of saturated fats you take in and start counting your carbs. Include the following four food items in your diet:
- Olive oil
- Nuts
- Salmon
- Berries
Eating healthy will not just keep you fit internally as you age but it will also show on your skin. The less fatty food you eat, the less fatty buildup your heart will have.
Stop Smoking
Smoking is what causes atherosclerosis, a heart condition that we explained earlier on in this article. As you age, not only does tobacco affect your lungs but your heart too. The chemical in tobacco attack your blood cells and stop them from doing their function. This causes inflammation, which then forces the artery channel to narrow down, thus causing severe problems that eventually lead to death.
The number one factor that can keep your ticker running is exercise. Its importance cannot be stressed enough! If you are already a patient of musculoskeletal problems, then you need a different exercise regime, one doctored by a specialist.
So, before you reach the point where you can no longer take a long walk because your lungs start feeling heavy and your heart barely pumps its rhythm, better get on the plan of changing your diet. Take it easy on the alcohol and diet coke.
