To protect yourself from heart disease and stroke, it’s ideal to lead a healthy lifestyle. A huge part of this is making some lifestyle adjustments, but it also pays to regularly check your cholesterol with lipid profile tests, which you can get at any Maxicare Primary Care Clinic (PCC) or via Maxicare HomeCare. Let’s find out what steps we can take to better protect ourselves from these deadly cardiovascular diseases.

Eat a healthy diet

Diet plays a big role in your cardiovascular health. Eat more whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables are great sources of fiber and nutrients. Healthy fats, on the other hand, prevent clots from forming. Eat less processed and sugary foods.

Exercise

Exercise is just great for getting leaner, which reduces your chance of getting heart disease and hypertension. But on its own, exercise also has plenty of cardiovascular benefits. This is why exercising regularly is a must. Aim for around half an hour of moderate exercise daily.

Stop smoking or using any tobacco products

Smoking, second-hand smoke, and other tobacco products is bad for your cardiovascular health. It promotes clot formation and also damages your blood vessels, which can make them thicker and narrower. This can also promote the build-up of plaque throughout your blood vessels.

Get regular checkups

If you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, manage your conditions by working closely with your healthcare team. Take all medications as directed by your doctor to help control blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

Get a non-fasting lipid profile (NFLP) test

It helps to know how high your risk is. Get your cholesterol tested to find out what your risk of developing heart disease and stroke is. A lipid profile test is a blood test that measures the levels of fats and cholesterol in the blood. This is used to assess your risk of developing heart disease and stroke.

Those who should get a lipid profile test are the following:

• People who are overweight or obese
• Those who have a pre-existing heart disease
• People who are suffering from diabetes or are at risk of diabetes
• People who lead a sedentary lifestyle
• The ones that tend to go for unhealthy diets and junk food
• Chronic hypertension sufferers
• Habitual smokers or drinkers
• Have a family history of premature heart disease or dyslipidemia (abnormal levels of cholesterol and lipid levels in the body)

The best part is, this lipid profile is non-fasting, which means you won’t need to skip your meals in order to get this done. Get a consult from your Maxicare doctor at any of our Primary Care Clinics, which can also do the NFLP or other laboratory tests for you. You may also get checked u by a doctor immediately through our Teleconsult and Videoconsult service, courtesy of Doctor Anywhere. And should you require your NFLP test to be done at home, our HomeCare service is available upon request within Metro Manila and selected provinces.

References:

https://www.heartandstroke.ca/healthy-living/healthy-eating/fats-and-oils 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6557987/ 

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/health_effects/heart_disease/index.htm 

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