Hello, and welcome back to our blog here at Stockton Cardiology. This is part two of our blog series about the benefits of exercise on the heart. Exercise has a nearly endless list of benefits on the body but has proven to be an important part of reducing your risk factor for life-threatening cardiovascular diseases like heart disease and stroke. Read on to learn more about the benefits of exercise on your heart or contact our heart doctors today.
It Helps You Quit Smoking
According to EveryDayHealth.com, exercise significantly reduces cravings for cigarettes during and after a workout. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that about 70 percent of smokers want to quit but aren’t able to. These people often use things like nicotine patches in attempts to quit, but end up falling back on their plan. Fortunately, exercise is a great tool for helping you quit smoking. Not only does it curb the urge to smoke, but it can help you cope with stress, boost your energy, and improve your mood, making you less reliant on cigarettes. Smoking is terrible for heart health, increasing your blood pressure, as well as your risk factor for a variety of heart conditions like heart disease and strokes by damaging the lining of your arteries. This leads to a buildup of fatty material which clogs the artery.
Slowing The Development of Diabetes
Diabetes can result in high blood glucose levels which can damage your blood vessels and nerves that operate the heart. The longer someone lives with diabetes, the more likely they are to develop heart disease and it is the most common cause of death in adults is heart disease. Exercise helps manage blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol which can help prevent type 2 diabetes.
Reducing Stress
High stress releases adrenaline in the body. This is a hormone that causes heart rate and breathing to speed up and blood pressure to rise. Aerobic, resistance-oriented, and flexibility-focused exercise are all great options for reducing stress and causing heart rate and breathing to increase in a healthy way that doesn’t damage the body.
Reducing Inflammation
Inflammation is your body’s way of fighting harmful disease or injury. However, chronic inflammation is very damaging to the body and is the result of poor lifestyle choices. According to Medical News Today, exercise improves the body’s anti-inflammatory response by activating the sympathetic nervous system. The body begins to release the hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine which activate the adrenergic receptors found in immune cells. Reduced inflammation will reduce the risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases.
Speak With Our Heart Doctors In Stockton
These are just a few of the benefits of exercise on the heart. If you missed our last blog, be sure to check it out to learn more about this subject. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact our cardiologists if you want a consultation or checkup. We treat all conditions affecting the heart.