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What steps can I take to prevent coronary artery disease?
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Board-certified in cardiology internal medicine nuclear medicine and holistic medicine Dr Guarneri is the founder and medical director of the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine Her medical degree is from SUNY Medical…
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How can I take steps to prevent a heart attack or stroke if I have diabetes?
Steps to prevent a heart attack or stroke if you have diabetes include limiting all of your risk factors and maintaining an optimal HgA1C. What that means is lowering your blood sugar. The way to lower your blood sugar is to decrease the number of calories you consume. Also, you can lower your blood sugar by decreasing the amount of starches that you eat. For example, it is much better for diabetics to eat green vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli and bok choy than it is for a diabetic to eat potatoes and white rice. The potatoes and white rice will be converted to sugar whereas the green leafy vegetables will not.
So the first step is to look at the number of calories that you are consuming. If you are consuming too many calories or you are overweight then you need to decrease your number of calories, which can be done with a nutritionist under medical guidance. The second thing is to choose your calories wisely and not to choose foods that are high on the glycemic index (i.e. foods that will raise your blood sugar like fruit juice, alcohol, dates and white flour, just to name a few). Third, you must be exercising! Aerobic exercise burns blood sugar and lowers triglycerides. So the key for diabetes prevention is diet, exercise and lastly, stress management. If you are under a lot of stress, you will produce cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that raises blood sugar and puts weight on in the mid line. If you do not learn to transform the way you react to stress and change your perception to stress you will continue to produce cortisol, which will increase your blood sugar.
All of these steps will help control your diabetes, and in controlling your diabetes you can prevent a heart attack or stroke. In addition, your physician may have you on appropriate medications for heart attack and stroke prevention. These may include medications to lower your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol as well as aspirin. People who have diabetes and high triglycerides may speak with their physician about taking omega 3 fish oil as a way of decreasing their triglycerides and helping to decrease their blood sugar and inflammation.
So the first step is to look at the number of calories that you are consuming. If you are consuming too many calories or you are overweight then you need to decrease your number of calories, which can be done with a nutritionist under medical guidance. The second thing is to choose your calories wisely and not to choose foods that are high on the glycemic index (i.e. foods that will raise your blood sugar like fruit juice, alcohol, dates and white flour, just to name a few). Third, you must be exercising! Aerobic exercise burns blood sugar and lowers triglycerides. So the key for diabetes prevention is diet, exercise and lastly, stress management. If you are under a lot of stress, you will produce cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that raises blood sugar and puts weight on in the mid line. If you do not learn to transform the way you react to stress and change your perception to stress you will continue to produce cortisol, which will increase your blood sugar.
All of these steps will help control your diabetes, and in controlling your diabetes you can prevent a heart attack or stroke. In addition, your physician may have you on appropriate medications for heart attack and stroke prevention. These may include medications to lower your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol as well as aspirin. People who have diabetes and high triglycerides may speak with their physician about taking omega 3 fish oil as a way of decreasing their triglycerides and helping to decrease their blood sugar and inflammation.
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College Stress
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Congenital Heart Disease
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Coronary Heart Disease
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Diabetes Type 2
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Healthy Eating
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Heart Attack
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Heart Failure
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Other Heart Problems
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Senior Health & Aging
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Stress Management
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Stroke
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