Preventing Vascular Disease

Caused by atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, vascular disease or disease of the blood vessels can seriously affect the supply of blood, oxygen and nutrients to body from the heart.

Vascular Disease

A severe condition of the arteries, vascular disease narrows and hardens the arteries due to accumulation of fats and cholesterol that block the flow of blood to different parts of the body. The parts of the body that do no get adequate supply of blood to function suffer from tissue damage or death as a result. Thus, it is important to prevent vascular diseases for normal functioning of heart and body.

Anyone with an unhealthy lifestyle, imbalanced diet and irregular physical activity can get vascular disease. In many cases, the susceptibility of the patient to vascular disease is genetic too where an individual may inherit vascular diseases from parents or siblings. However, there are numerous other risk factors that can lead to vascular disease if they are not properly controlled.

Preventing Vascular Diseases

It is possible to prevent vascular disease if the high risk factors are controlled. If proper preventive measures are taken, even patients with a family history of vascular disease can avoid it.  Some of the ways for preventing vascular disease are:

Preventing Vascular Disease Through Diet

Preventing vascular disease begins with taking the right amount of nutrition. A diet that is high in fruits, vegetables and fiber and low in saturated fats, sugar and cholesterol greatly helps to prevent vascular disease.

Avoiding Tobacco Smoking

Smoking is a significant risk factor for vascular disease, including lower extremity vascular disease, aortic aneurysms and carotid artery disease and stroke. Tobacco usage greatly contributes to the amount of build-up or blockage in arteries and decreases the amount of oxygen supplied to your tissues.

A severe lack of blood flow to the legs can cause gangrene which requires amputation of all or part of the foot and leg. It is vital that you stop tobacco smoking to prevent vascular disease.

Controlling Hypertension

Hypertension or high blood pressure is the primary and most important symptom of hypertensive vascular disease. High intake of salt is mainly responsible for hypertension and it should be avoided if an individual has a strong family history related to vascular diseases, so that vascular disease can be prevented for as long as possible.

Regular Exercise

Exercise is frequently recommended to patients with vascular diseases. Exercise training programs show their results in physiological changes such as improved peripheral utilization of oxygen and oxidative metabolic capacity that leads to greater functional capacity and less cardiac effort.

Blood flow is observed to increase during and after active exercise. Thus, exercise is imperative for preventing vascular diseases.

Monitoring Your Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. It increases the risk of developing coronary, cerebrovascular, and peripheral arterial disease. Medical management directed at optimizing glucose control is essential.

Diabetic patients should keep their blood sugar levels in control as low levels of blood sugar can prevent the numbness and blockage of blood vessels.

Cholesterol Levels

Blood cholesterol level is very closely related to vascular disease.  If cholesterol is very high, it builds up in walls of the arteries. Over time, this buildup causes the hardening of arteries i.e. a vascular disease. This condition then causes arteries to become narrowed, slowing blood flow to the heart. The narrowed blood vessels reduce the flow of blood to the heart. Thus to prevent vascular disease, the first step should be controlling your cholesterol level.

Keeping your Weight in Check

Overweight and obesity are also established risk factors for vascular disease. Losing weight helps a lot in staying away from vascular diseases. Strategies for reducing weight include changing of behavior, physical activity, and changing diet, including reducing salt, increasing dietary fiber and eating enough fresh fruit and vegetables.

Prevention is better than cure, so by changing lifestyles and adopting healthy habits it is possible to prevent vascular disease. Rather than taking medicines and expensive treatment, the emphasis should be on taking a preventive approach.