Reduce your risk of heart attacks and stroke

Once, doctors believed the biggest risk factor for heart attacks and strokes was getting old. But you can improve your heart and brain health at any age by making healthy lifestyle choices.

High blood pressure, out-of-balance cholesterol levels and high levels of blood fats (triglycerides) were once seen as unfortunate, yet normal, parts of the aging process. Evidence today shows that healthy lifestyle changes can powerfully reverse these and other threats that are the underlying causes of heart attacks and strokes.

Easy-to-incorporate changes include:

• going for an after-dinner stroll
• choosing a  tropical-fruit dessert
• enjoying a night out laughing with your best friends
• drinking a glass of fine wine

Similar results have been found in hundreds, even thousands, of medical studies conducted around the world. And it holds true for people of all ages and health levels — whether you:

• have arteries that are in tip-top shape
• are taking medications to control somewhat problematic blood pressure or cholesterol levels
• have already had one heart attack or stroke and want to avoid a second

Heart attacks and strokes kill or alter the lives of more older people than any other health problem. And the cause of the damage sounds so simple, so possible: A clot comes loose in your bloodstream, stopping the flow of blood and oxygen to vulnerable heart muscle or brain cells.

A clot can change your life in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, making small, healthy changes at any age can dramatically lower your risk for a life-altering clot.

When researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston, tracked 15,708 women and men for six years, those who practiced four basic heart- and brain-healthy lifestyle habits were 35 percent less likely to have cardiovascular disease and 40 percent less likely to die from any cause.

Most of the volunteers were in their fifties and sixties — and some had turned 70 by the end of the study. Their healthy habits included:

• Eating at least five fruits and vegetables daily
• Exercising at least 2.5 hours per week
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Not smoking

It's never too late to start, concludes lead researcher Dana E. King, MD, an associate professor of family medicine at the university. "People who newly adopt a healthy lifestyle experience a prompt benefit of lower rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality," he says. "We call this the 'turning back the clock' study. The benefits were dramatic and immediate, even at age 65.

When it comes to the heart, most of us do need to work at turning back the clock in our later years. At least half of all older adults have out-of-balance cholesterol levels, and 90 percent of us will develop high blood pressure in older age, experts say.

• Threats team up to fill artery walls with heart- and brain-threatening plaque, and to make blood vessels stiff and prone to damage that leads to clots
• Controlling, reversing, or preventing these dangerous conditions can dramatically lower your odds for big problems
• If everyone with high blood pressure got their condition under control, the number of strokes would be cut nearly in half
• Adopting healthier habits could cut your odds for heart attack by up to 82 percent

The key to reducing your risks is not to rely on drugs or surgery alone. Make healthy — and enjoyable — steps the foundation of your personal heart and brain protection plan.