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Heart and Vascular

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Heart and Vascular

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at OhioHealth

We give you the tools to protect and improve your heart and vascular health

At OhioHealth, we prioritize preventing heart and vascular disease through a multidisciplinary approach that addresses risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and smoking. Our goal is to prevent serious illness by providing the tools you need to stay healthy or reversing a condition that threatens your heart and vascular health.

Eight cardiovascular health tips

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups, in fact, one person dies every 33 seconds from cardiovascular disease. That’s the equivalent of one in every five deaths. 

1. Eat smart

Aim for an overall healthy eating pattern that includes whole foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, nuts, seeds, and cooking in non-tropical oils such as olive and canola.

2. Get active

Get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity (water aerobics, social dancing, gardening) or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity (running, swimming laps or jump roping) or a combination of both each week.

3. Just say no

Don’t smoke, vape or use other tobacco products and avoid second-hand smoke.

4. Manage weight

Reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Know what you are
consuming in calories and how many you are burning. A food journal can be very helpful.

5. Control cholesterol

Get your cholesterol checked and talk to your health care professional about your numbers and how they impact your overall risk. Know the difference between good cholesterol HDL and bad cholesterol LDL.

6. Sleep

Aim for an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep a day.

7. Manage blood sugar

Get your blood sugar checked and talk to your health care professionals about your numbers. Keep fasting blood sugar less than 100 mg/dL or an A1C of less than 5.7%.

8. Manage blood pressure

Have your blood pressure checked regularly. High blood pressure makes your heart work harder. That puts a strain on the heart and arteries. Keep your blood pressure at or below 120/80 mm Hg. 

Lifestyle programs

OhioHealth offers several different programs to help you along your cardiovascular health journey.

Fitness

Get moving with a comprehensive exercise program at one of our first-class fitness centers. Exercise helps greatly reduce key risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease.

Stress management

Chronic stress can be detrimental to your health. We have programs to help you become more aware of your stressors and warning signs.

Health risk management

Partner with one of our health coordinators to develop a personalized, intensive, non-medical program to optimize and maintain your health and meet your goals. Your health coordinator will work closely with you and your physician to manage any medical conditions and will regularly evaluate your progress.

Tobacco Cessation

Quitting smoking alone can be hard. Our comprehensive Tobacco Cessation program helps you look at your smoking behavior, explore your reasons for quitting and develop an individualized plan to become a nonsmoker for life.

Nutrition counseling

Our registered dieticians can help you fine-tune your eating habits by teaching you healthy habits and creating a diet plan that fits your needs. Depending on your medical plan, a one-hour consultation with a nutritionist may be covered.

Weight Management

For people with moderate to significant weight loss needs or other health conditions, our Medical Weight Management program offers physician-guided weight loss options to help you achieve success.

Clinical prevention

For patients who don’t respond to lifestyle changes alone, OhioHealth provides preventive care and support in the clinical setting. These specialty clinics include:

Anticoagulation clinics

Offered at several locations throughout the region, we provide comprehensive patient management, monitoring and instruction related to anticoagulation therapy (blood thinners).

Lipid clinics

At the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Lipid Clinic at OhioHealth McConnell Heart Health Center, we treat patients with elevated blood lipids who have been resistant to standard therapy.

Explore our ​Heart and Vascular programs