Preventing Heart Disease
Critical steps to preventing heart disease
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The heart is one of the most essential organs in the human body. However, heart related diseases are the leading killer of Americans. Conditions like Arrhythmia, heart attack, and heart failure are related to high cholesterol and high blood pressure. So the heart is a delicate and intricate organ that is affected by a great many processes and factors in your body. How do you keep it healthy? The best things you can do to prevent heart disease and heart attack are to watch your cholesterol and blood pressure. Visit the doctor on a regular basis and consult a heart specialist (cardiovascular physician) if needed. Don't wait until it's too late.
Medications for Controlling Your Cholesterol
- Lipitor is a leading prescription medication on the market which is aimed at seriously reducing your cholesterol.
- Zocor, along with a healthy diet, significantly reduced the risk of heart attack or stroke in people with heart disease or diabetes, who had high or even normal cholesterol.
- Zetia is proven to complement those efforts and, when added to a healthy diet, is proven to lower Bad (LDL-C) Cholesterol by as much as 30 points-about 18%.
- Crestor is another well-known drug on the market. Ask your Doctor for a prescription.
Wieght Loss and Dieting
Weight is a significant factor in preventing heart disease. The first step to weight loss is to eat right and exercise (even just 30 minutes three times a week of cardio activity can significantly lower your chances of a heart attack). But when these just aren't enough there are prescription and over-the-counter medicines aimed at controlling your weight.
Types of Diet Pills
There are three main types of diet pills. First, in the most serious of circumstances doctors can prescribe diet pills like Meridia. These pills are highly regulated by the FDA and should only be taken in consultation with a doctor. The second form of diet pills is over-the-counter (OTC). Phentramine is an OTC drug. These drugs can be found in various stores throughout the country and do not require a doctor's prescription and are less scrutinized by the FDA. The third and finally form of diet pills are herbal supplements. These are natural pills designed to help you curb your appetite without significant intervention from foreign agents.
OTC Dieat Pills
Some over-the-counter pills (such as Xenedrine, Dexatrim and Zantrex-3), at one time, used a powerful mixture of the stimulant ephedra and caffiene to help users lose wieght. They reportedly worked in combination by increasing energy expenditure -- or thermogenesis (it is thought that caffeine increases metabolism by increasing the breakdown of fatty acids) -- and reducing appetite (ephedrine acts on the satiety center in the hypothalamus). However since late 2003, when the FDA banned the sale of ephedra-containing drugs due to evidence of increased risk of heart attack, these formulations have replaced ephedra with a mixture of vitamins (such as thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, folic acid), an ephedra-like substance called synephrine that is found in certain citrus fruits, and caffeine. The combination reportedly increases energy while boosting metabolism.