College psychology
According to Poorthuis et al., (2017), heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death. Together, stroke and heart disease are some of the most widespread and costly health problems around the world today. The leading risk factors associated with these diseases include smoking cigarettes, diabetes, high blood pressure, high amounts of cholesterol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, overweight, and obesity. Over a while, these risk factors change the heart and blood vessels which results in heart attacks, failure of the heart, and stroke. It is important to deal with these risk factors in the early stages of life to avert these overwhelming results and other imminent problems such as chronic cardiovascular diseases.
A risk factor analysis is important in predicting and determining risk levels to prevent the devashttps://essaygroom.com/critical-review-form-quantitative-studies/https://essaygroom.com/critical-review-form-quantitative-studies/tating outcomes of heart disease and stroke. I carried out a personal risk analysis for heart and stroke. I found out that my risk was very much below average. This can be attributed to the fact that I do not smoke, eat junk food and I am physically active. The findings indicate that my chances of getting a heart attack and stroke are very low but that doesn’t mean that I cannot suffer from it. These findings will help me to lead a healthy life. I will be able to choose foods with low fats, low amounts of added sugar, and salt.
The findings have revealed that I am at low risk for heart disease and therefore I have to take different measures to ensure I keep my risk low. I will need to consume different types of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and foods with high amounts of fiber. I will also need to reduce the amount of red meat that I consume and ensure that at least two times per week to maintain a lower risk. I will also ensure that I reduce the number of saturated fats and trans fats that I consume. This is important in regulating the amount of cholesterol in my body. I will also take a multivitamin and top it up with a B complex vitamin.
Developing healthy lifestyle habits is also important in maintaining a low-risk level. Having regular exercise mostly moderate to intense exercise will help reduce the risk of a heart attack. Being active for about thirty minutes or more for most days of the week will help me to reduce the amount of cholesterol in my body and ensure that there is good circulation of blood around the body. Although I do not smoke, I occasionally find myself in areas where people smoke. This makes me a passive smoker which is dangerous to my health and exposes me to heart attack and stroke. I will keep away from such groups to reduce exposure to heart attack risk factors.
I have learned that the prevention of these risk factors is very important for anybody who intends to fight the risk factors associated with a heart attack and stroke. It is important to start with an assessment of the risk factors and then develop a plan that you can follow to maintain a low risk for stroke and heart attack.
Reference
Poorthuis, M. H., Algra, A. M., Algra, A., Kappelle, L. J., & Klijn, C. J. (2017). Female-and male-specific risk factors for stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA neurology, 74(1), 75-81.
http://www.yourdiseaserisk.wustl.edu/.