Are you taking care of your heart? Is it taking care of you? An unhealthy heart can affect your life in a variety of negative ways, so it’s important to keep it as healthy as you can. WebMD editors have collected some tips on keeping your heart healthy, writing:
Check the Big 3
These are blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. You want all of them to be in a heart-healthy range.
1. Blood pressure:
- Normal: Less than120 (the first number) and less than 80 (the second number)
- Prehypertension: 120 to 139 (the first number) and 80 to 89 (the second number)
- Hypertension: 140 and higher and 90 and higher
2. Cholesterol: Too much of the “bad” kind or not enough of the “good” type raises your heart risk. Healthy cholesterol levels depend on your age and gender. Desirable levels for adults are:
- Total cholesterol: under 200 mg/dL
- LDL (“bad”): less than 100 mg/dL
- HDL (“good”): 60 mg/dL or higher
- Triglycerides: under 150 mg/dL
If your levels are higher than that, you’ll want to talk with your doctor about whether it would help to change what you eat, add more exercise, and possibly also take medication.
3. Blood sugar: A fasting blood sugar test, which is done after you don’t eat or drink anything but water for at least 12 hours, is most commonly used to diagnose type 2 diabetes. If you do have type 2 diabetes, it raises your risk for heart disease.
- A normal fasting blood sugar level is 100 mg/dLor less.
- Prediabetes is a fasting blood sugar of 101 to 125 mg/dL.
- A fasting blood sugar of 126 mg/dLor greater indicates diabetes.
Read more here.
