LifePak Guidelines for Preventing Cardiac Arrest

You've heard it all before

Eat heart-healthy
Lower cholesterol
Exercise regularly
Control your blood pressure
Lose weight
Quit smoking
Manage stress
Relieve depression
Avoid or control diabetes
Know your family's medical history

Eat Heart-Healthy

If your diet is high in saturated fats and tropical oils, you're a Sudden Cardiac Arrest waiting to happen. A diet rich in those fats and oils speeds the development of coronary heart disease, arthrosclerosis, and obesity -- all contributing factors to a myriad of heart-health concerns.

Lower Cholesterol

Your total cholesterol should never be higher than 200 (and your total cholesterol should never be more than 5 times the HDL). If natural efforts, such as eating heart-healthy and getting plenty of exercise, do not result in an acceptable cholesterol level, your doctor might put you on cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Exercise Regularly

Exercise is amazing. Not only can it help prevent heart disease, it can also improve the quality of life for those already suffering from heart disease. It can help you lose weight. It can give you more energy. It can help you sleep better at night. It can even reverse the process of arthrosclerosis. It can lower your blood pressure, reduce your cholesterol and even chase away your depression. And it's free.

Control Your Blood Pressure

Having high blood pressure and making no attempt to reduce it is like begging for a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. If you have high blood pressure (i.e., hypertension) you should be working with your doctor to devise a plan to lower it. This may include changes to your diet, lifestyle, exercise routine or even medications.

Lose Weight

Lose weight. Easier said than done, of course. But you can do it. Eat less. Exercise more. Limit your fat intake. Get counseling. Take prescribed medications. Consider surgical procedures. Start today.

Quit Smoking

The average smoker dies nearly 7 years before a non-smoker. If that's not enough to make you quit smoking (or not start), then how about this:  Smoking is a major cause of coronary artery disease, Sudden Cardiac Arrest, and Sudden Cardiac Death. Put aside the money you'd spend on smoking every day and in no time, you can go on a stress-reducing vacation.

Manage Stress

We all live with stress. Sometimes, it's even good for us. But when stress causes us to overeat or smoke or cut down on exercise, the result is always bad. Stress can cause blood pressure to rise and chronic stress can cause that elevated blood pressure to become permanent.

Relieve Depression

Depression has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and heart attacks. If you're clinically depressed, obviously you can't "snap out of it." Be sure to visit your doctor, talk it over and devise a plan to eliminate it. What's at stake is much more than your dark "mood" -- your very life is at risk.

Avoid or Control Diabetes

Like heart disease, diabetes is known as a "silent killer." Diabetics are more likely to develop heart-related diseases that lend themselves to Sudden Cardiac Arrest or Sudden Cardiac Death. If you don't already have diabetes, work with your doctor to ensure that your lifestyle doesn't invite it. If you do have diabetes, work with your doctor to reduce your exposure to the onset of heart disease.

Know your Families Medical History

Finally, know your family's health history for as far back as you can trace it. If heart disease runs in your family, then no matter how well you care for yourself, you are more likely to develop some form of heart disease than is a person whose family has no such history. Armed with this knowledge, you can take aggressive steps to avoid a lifestyle that invites heart disease. You may not be able to prevent it, but you should be able to delay it or reduce its seriousness.

If you know you're a candidate for heart disease or Sudden Cardiac Arrest, you should consider purchasing an Automated External Defibrillator to have handy in your home. Send your spouse and kids (if they're old enough) to American Red Cross or American Heart Association CPR/AED training. Go with them. And encourage your boss to install these defibrillators at work -- ideally so that one is never more than 1 minute away from any location.