Routine check-ups can catch early arterial problems. You don't necessarily need a yearly check-up. If you are under 30 and otherwise healthy, going to your doctor once every two to three years is enough. A check-up every other year is sufficient for those between 30 and 40 who do not have any medical conditions. Annual physicals should start at around the age of 50, earlier if you are at special risk or have other health problems. As said before, high blood pressure can increase your risk of arterial problems and over time cause arteries to stiffen. It therefore needs to be treated. In addition to lifestyle changes like diet, exercise, coping with stress, and limiting sodium and alcohol, it is also possible, with your doctor, to treat high blood pressure through medication. Diuretics, ACE inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers are all common medicines which, in different ways, stop or slow body functions that increase blood pressure. It is not uncommon for someone to take more than one medication for high blood pressure. You may also experience side-effects. In that case, do not stop taking the medication but ask your doctor if she can change the dosage or drug. . As said before, high cholesterol is also an indirect factor in the development of atherosclerosis. Your cholesterol level may be high from your diet and/or from your body making too much cholesterol on its own. Apart from losing weight and reducing your consumption of saturated and trans fats, minding food labels carefully, you may need to ask your doctor for medical help in lowering your cholesterol. Statins, for example, block a substance that your liver needs to make cholesterol, which causes the liver to remove the cholesterol from the blood. Statins not only lower cholesterol levels but help the body absorb existing deposits on artery walls, which can possibly reverse coronary artery disease. Other medications may also protect the arteries by decreasing the inflammation, which is thought to contribute to heart disease. Diabetes can cause hardening of the arteries by leaving severe calcium deposits. People with high levels of calcium in the blood are at greater risk for developing hardening of the arteries, so make sure to manage the disease appropriately if you are diabetic. Check your blood sugar daily. Keep track of your numbers and report these to your doctor. Be familiar with what normal blood sugar levels are and try to keep your readings as close to normal as possible. You can do this through an insulin regimen, medicine, exercise, and a special diabetic diet planned in consultation with a doctor or nutritionist.
زر الطبيب بشكل منتظم. عالج ضغط الدم المرتفع. عالج الكوليسترول المرتفع. تحكّم في داء السكري.