Guide to Heart Disease

Once you go back home after a heart attack your doctor will prescribe certain medication. It is important that you take it regularly, Many patients change the dose or forget. This can be dangerous. Look on medication as a friend rather than an enemy that reminds you of your illness. It is also important that you immediately start on a program of lifestyle changes. While it may seem difficult at first to change the habits of a lifetime it can be a pleasant challenge.
The first few weeks after a heart attack is an opportune time for one to be able to make the changes much more easily. When it comes to dietary fat most doctors do not go far enough. In all likelihood you will be asked to cut down on fats and lose some weight. Most physicians will prescribe a diet which provides 20 to 30% calories from fat. To reverse coronary artery disease you need to cut this to 10%. Remember the warning that a single high fat meal can cause sludging of blood cells and precipitate another attack. So avoid any large meals that contain a high percentage of fat. If you are overweight you may need to lose vveight. Even if you are not, be very careful not to put on any more weight. Keep a careful watch over your diet — low fat, low refined sugar and little or no alcohol.
Practice your stress management and personality modification techniques religiously Some people procrastinate, telling themselves that they will start next week or after they return to work. You can use the free time to build new healthy habits. So when you return to normal activity, you will have already instituted new habits. This will enable you to get back to work and clear the backlog of work, without feeling pressured.

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