How Nurses Can Educate Patients to Reduce Heart Disease Risk Factors

Heart diseases accounts for a large portion of mortality in majority of developed countries. As this epidemic of cardiovascular disease strikes every nation, it becomes important for people to follow some precautionary measures and improve their cardiovascular health.

Here, nurses can play an important role to educate patients about prevention tips and encouraging them to adopt a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Let’s begin with what is heart disease

Cardiovascular or heart disease is the condition of heart wherein plaque that begins as a fatty streak starts building up in the coronary arteries. It starts accumulating in such a way that it results in blockage. Gradually, this plaque starts growing and heart needs to work harder to pump blood. If a portion of the plaque rips apart then vessel is occluded entirely. This condition of the heart is referred commonly as heart attack.

What are the risk factors involve?

Before we outline prevention strategies, it is important to understand risk factors associated with it.

• Old Age- Older age increases the risk for heart diseases. With the time, more of fatty streaks and plaques start to develop.
• Tobacco- Those who regularly take tobacco possesses a higher risk of developing a cardiac event.
• Higher level of Cholesterol- With the increase in the total level of blood cholesterol the likelihood for a coronary occlusion also rises.
• Sedentary Lifestyle- An inactive and lethargic lifestyle increases the chances of coronary diseases. The more you exercise, better it is for your heart. Any kind of physical activity done on a daily basis from moderate to vigorous prevents heart disease.

Prevention tips to be followed to reduce heart disease risk factors:

• Monitor and control blood pressure
• Quit Smoking
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Adopting a heart-healthy diet that includes consumption of green veggies and fruits
• Get regular check-ups done

Nurses work in close proximity with the patients and if these precautionary tips are given to patients and their family members, this can surely result in reduced no. of cardiovascular cases. For more such tips and information on nursing profession, keep exploring INSCOL blogs. Moreover, if you want to study and work abroad, you can find detailed information about Global Nursing Programs at this website.