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An Inside Look at Heart Disease Essay

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You know how important your heart is, so it is no wonder people worry when they hear someone has heart problems. More than 60 million Americans have some form of heart disease. The heart is an amazing organ. Its job is to pump oxygen and nutrient rich blood throughout the body to sustain life. In fact, this fist sized organ beats, or expands and contracts, 100,000 times per day. It pumps five to six quarts of blood each minute or about 2,000 gallons per day. That’s a lot of blood. Blood is essential. It carries fresh oxygen from the lungs and nutrients to the body’s tissues. It also takes the body’s waste products, like carbon dioxide, away from the tissues. (“How the Heart Works”) The heart is a four chambered, hollow organ about the …show more content…

Uncontrolled risk factors include things like age, sex, family history of heart disease, and race. There are things you cannot help or change. You are going to get older and your body is going to go through changes during that time. Men have a greater risk of heart disease than women do. Even after women go through menopause, their death rate from heart disease is less than men. If a family member has heart disease, everyone in the family is at risk of also having heart disease. Unfortunately even your race can put you at a higher risk of having heart disease. African Americans, Mexican Americans, and American Indians have a higher risk of heart disease than Caucasians. (“Risk Factors for Heart Disease”)
While some risk factors cannot be changed, it is important to know realize that you do have control of others. By making changes to your lifestyle, you can reduce your risk of heart disease. These types of risk factors include things like smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, and high LDL or “bad” cholesterol. These changes may be done gradually. They don’t have to be done all at once. The key is to simply make healthy changes. (“Risk Factors for Heart Disease”)
People who are at risk of heart disease should quit smoking. People who smoke increase their risk of developing heart disease by two to four times. Even people who do not smoke, but live with someone who does, also have an increased risk of getting heart disease. You should do what you

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