According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The American Heart Association reports that nearly half of all U.S. adults have some form of cardiovascular disease. As obesity and high blood pressure rates increase, younger people are now at risk for heart disease earlier in life.
Understanding the risk factors, and learning how to take care of your heart health, can help you prevent and manage heart disease at any age.
Know the risk factors
If you know that heart conditions run in your family, it’s important to talk to your primary care physician about your heart health. The risk for heart disease can increase
even more when heredity factors combine with unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as smoking cigarettes and eating an unhealthy diet.
Tips for reducing your risk
To help lower your chances of getting heart disease, it’s important to do the following:
Sharp Health Plan Member Tip
All Sharp Health Plan members have access to free one-on-one, telephone-based Best Health® coaching sessions that are
completely customized to your individual needs. You can choose from five topics:
- Healthy weight (for people with a BMI of 25 or higher) — calculate your BMI
- Smoking cessation
- Healthy eating
- Physical activity
- Stress management
Coaching sessions are free to all Sharp Health Plan members and are offered Monday through Friday from 8 am – 5 pm (last available session is 4:30 pm). For more information, call 1-877-849-2363 or email besthealth@sharp.com.
Want to share other important preventive health care information with your employees? Here is information on cervical cancer and colon cancer.