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Heart Health for the Elderly: What Caregivers Should Know

A heart with hands.While your elderly parents may not already have health issues, it is never too early to be proactive about preventing chronic heart problems.

By making some simple adjustments to everyday life, you can avoid the onset of long-term health problems and promote a healthy heart!

Here are a few simple steps we recommend to keep your aging parents from developing a heart-related disease.

Quit Smoking

If all the research and data out there on smoking isn’t enough to convince you, this should: smoking increases your likelihood of developing heart complications in the future. It not only increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases but can also affect your overall health. By not smoking, your risk for heart attack can fall by fifty percent!

Additionally, continuing to smoke can make it harder to receive health benefits in the future. Depending on the health insurance, your rates may be higher or may have various restrictions. By quitting, there will be immediate and long-term rewards for not continuing to smoke.

Go Exercise.

Exercise has so many great health benefits, a healthy heart being top of the list. By exercising, you will be exercising your heart and strengthening heart muscles! It is important for the elderly to exercise as often as possible. We recommend 30 minutes a day, even if it is a short walk around the block! A little bit of exercise can go a long way in keeping your heart strong and pumping.

Especially if you have recently quit smoking, exercise can help with smoking cessation and can help to improve cholesterol levels and reduce stress. Exercise also decreases the risk of stroke by up to twenty percent in moderately active seniors.

Eat Healthily.

Decrease your consumption of unhealthy foods, especially those with high fat or salt levels. Such foods are hard for your body to break down and can cause your heart to work twice as hard, leading to possible heart problems. Especially if your elderly loved one or family have a history of heart disease, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, it is important to eat healthily.

Replace unhealthy foods with fresh fruits and vegetables that are a great source of nutrients and also have low levels of salt, fat, and processed sugar, allowing your body to absorb natural vitamins and minerals.

By making these three life adjustments, your elderly loved one will be well on their way to a healthy lifestyle and a heart-healthy future. While it may be difficult at first, the long-term effects of making these adjustments will allow your elderly loved one to live longer and happier! Not only will they begin to feel more energized, but proper exercise and diet can improve their health and begin to live a more active and health-conscious lifestyle!