Beware of red flags when it comes to heart disease
SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Heart attacks happen at any time.
Instead of fighting for your life, Siouxland doctors work to help you live your life to prevent heart complications later.
For heart disease, important cardiac risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes.
“I think it’s about taking action and action can be things that you do for yourself, diet, lifestyle and physical activity, as well as things that the medical community does for you in terms of drug treatments and those kinds of things,” said Dr. Mahmoud. Sharaf, an interventional cardiologist at UnityPoint Health in Sioux City.
On the medical side of prevention, it often starts with a conversation between you and your doctor.
“It’s important to get regular checkups, I’m talking about going to your family doctor or primary care provider and having them test your blood sugar for diabetes, have your blood pressure measured, have your cholesterol measured , and also take a screening questionnaire with your family doctor,” said Dr. Sharaf.
You can also take physical action now to prevent heart problems later by changing your daily routine.
“Smoking, smoking prevalence here has some effect, overweight or obesity here, diet has some effects,” Dr Sharaf added.
Things you can do now, like exercising, sleeping better, and not smoking, reduce your risk of heart attack.
Dr Sharaf said: ‘It could be a matter of losing weight, reducing salt in the diet or increasing the amount of water in the diet, and that could help’
But there will be people who need medicine,
“There are new diabetes medications, injectable medications and even insulin in some severe cases,” Dr. Sharaf explained.
These problems tend to go silent for long periods of time and may not often manifest themselves until they have reached an advanced stage.
“You may discover things that you didn’t think you had and those are the things that accumulate to create coronary artery disease or heart disease,” Dr. Sharaf said.
High blood sugar due to diabetes can damage your blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart and blood vessels. Research shows that over time, this damage can lead to heart disease.
“When it comes to blood sugar, glucose and things of that nature, weight loss and diet can often solve this problem, but some people will need treatments,” Dr. Sharaf said.
An A1C test performed by your doctors with a sample of your blood shows your average blood sugar level.
You can ask your doctor what your A1C goal should be.
UnityPoint Health has more cardiologist-recommended tips here.
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