Heart disease can take a huge toll on your senior’s overall health and on her quality of life. Even if she’s facing many of these risk factors for heart disease, she may still be able to avoid the worst of what heart disease can send her way by making changes now. With the help of 24-hour home care this can be accomplished.
Family History
If your senior has a family history of heart disease, on either side of her family, she can be at a greater risk of developing heart disease herself. If family members died of heart disease, that might increase her risk, too.
Age
As your senior ages, her heart muscle can become weaker or more damaged. Damage to other parts of her circulatory system as your senior ages can also contribute to heart disease. There are ways that she can reduce some of that damage, however.
Smoking
Smoking is always dangerous for health issues, including heart disease. If your elderly family member has smoked for many years, she can still benefit from quitting. Her doctor can help her to find tools that work for her.
Dietary Choices
If your senior chooses foods that are high in sugar and salt, as well as unhealthy fats, that can increase her risk of developing heart disease. Working with 24-hour home care providers to have healthy foods available easily might make it easier for your senior to change her diet.
Other Health Issues
Getting other health issues, like high blood pressure or diabetes, under better control can also lower your senior’s risk of developing heart disease. Talk to her doctor about what else she can try. Having 24-hour home care providers reminding your senior to follow her doctor’s recommendations may also help.
Lack of Physical Activity
Being physically inactive damages your senior’s entire body, including her heart. It’s never too late to get even a little more physically active, and this is another area where 24-hour home care providers can help. They can make sure your senior is safe as she becomes more active.
Dental Health Issues
Many people don’t realize that poor dental health is also closely related to heart disease. If your elderly family member is afraid of the dentist or believes she doesn’t need to go, let her know that she can keep her heart healthier if she also keeps her mouth healthier.
Every person’s individual risk factors are different, of course, so your senior should talk with her doctor to get a full list of what she needs to pay the closest attention to in order to protect her heart.