If you have recently been diagnosed with heart disease, you may be understandably confused and concerned. The concern comes from knowing that heart disease is a serious medical condition, and the confusion comes from not knowing all of the facts about the disease itself and what the next steps are. Get to know some of the facts about heart disease and heart disease care. Then, you can be sure you start taking steps in the right direction to manage your heart disease going forward. 

Heart Disease Is Not a Death Sentence

Many people hear the words heart disease and immediately think they are going to die. This is not necessarily the case. Yes, heart disease increases the risk of cardiac malfunctions and heart attacks, but you can take steps to manage the condition and decrease these risks. 

Do not despair if you have been diagnosed with heart disease. You still have the opportunity to live a long and ultimately healthy life in spite of your diagnosis. 

You Should Stop Smoking

One of the biggest contributing factors to developing and worsening heart disease is smoking. If you are a smoker and have been diagnosed with heart disease, now is the time to quit smoking. By quitting, you will prevent further smoking-related damage to your heart.

Quitting smoking may also make it possible to improve your condition. As such, find a program or a medication that you can take to quit smoking and start immediately. This in and of itself can change your life. 

You Need to Exercise

Another way to manage and improve your health with heart disease is to get up and get moving. Exercise is a massively important part of managing your heart disease. To get more exercise, start slow. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes a day a few times a week. Work your way up to an hour or more at least 5 days a week. 

You should do a combination of cardiovascular exercise and weight training. Both types of exercise have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease in healthy people and can improve heart health and maintenance in people with heart disease. 

You Have to Watch Your Diet

Diet is another contributing factor to heart disease. If you ate an unhealthy diet of processed and high-fat foods in the past, you can change that and vastly improve your heart health. Again, just like with exercise, you can start slowly.

Try to add more vegetables and fruits into your diet. A great way to add fruit is to substitute standard desserts for a nice piece of fruit (or bowl of mixed fruits). For vegetables, you can get creative too. Cauliflower is a versatile vegetable that can be riced or mashed to replace rice or potatoes in a meal. 

Now that you know more of the facts to keep in mind when you are dealing with heart disease, you can better handle your condition and get the heart disease care you require.