Heart health matters. Willamette Valley Resources & Referrals wants every senior in this
community to live with dignity, purpose and respect.
People are living longer. Diseases of the heart and/or circulatory vessels are pervasive, and unwelcome in this ever-growing population of mature adults. Compounding this, comorbid conditions can impact a person’s ability to cognitively function, sleep, balance and maintain strength. Maintaining one’s own functionality is critical to an adult’s overall health status, heart health, and chronic disease management.
Take Note: Rigorous activities are important for maintaining the heart muscle, the elasticity of vessels, regulating blood pressure levels and improving physical strength.
Here are 3 Factors that We Want You to Think About When Considering Heart Health:
1) Your Muscles - Physical activity is paramount when maintaining a person’s functionality above the fragility. Physical activity and having your blood pressure checked regularly is imperative towards preserving your functional capacity. Physical activities are foundational to chronic disease management programs and rehabilitation plans. Think mobility, flexibility, and muscle strengthening. These aspects are desirable focus points while trying to maintain independence, and striving to improve them can also save your life.
2) Your Blood Pressure - An under-recognized contributing factor to premature disability is high blood pressure. It is a leading cause of preventable illness and death. High blood pressure is a risk factor for myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease and it can lead towards a stroke. Controlling your blood pressure is shown to reduce your risk of suffering the fatality of these events. To lower your blood pressure safely one should monitor their medications (with help as needed), You should be physical active and reduce your sodium/salt intake. Having high blood pressure as an older adults is challenging due to other comorbidities like a person’s frailty, cognitive impairments and personal medication use. Always consult a physician about these factors.
3) Your Vessels - Coronary heart disease develops when major blood vessels supplying the heart with blood, oxygen and nutrients become damaged or blocked due to plaque build-up that limits blood flow. Angina is a symptom of coronary heart disease. It is the chest pain or discomfort that occurs if an area of heart muscle that is starved of oxygen-rich blood. A heart attack occurs when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked. The heart can’t get oxygen and may damage heart muscle. A stroke leads to death of brain cells due to that lack of oxygen. It can be caused by blockage of blood flow or rupture of a vessel. Vessel health is important.
It Should Be Repeated: Rigorous activities are important for maintaining the heart muscle, the elasticity of vessels, regulating blood pressure levels and improving physical strength.
This blog entry summarizes the information found on the attached pdf from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. It is supported by the facts also found on this document. We thought that it would be important to share this information in efforts to support aging adults in our communities. For more information and sources, refer to the support document provided.
Stay healthy!