This process goes on day after day, week after week, month after month, whether you are awake or asleep. Because the heart is a muscle, it is vital to keep it in good shape so that it can perform its important duties.

Maintaining the Heart

The wide range of heart disease conditions are largely preventable with lifestyle choices that emphasize diet and exercise. While birth defects and other issues can’t be prevented, others can be corralled with simple steps that are well within the patient’s control. These include staying away from cigarettes; maintaining control of blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes; getting exercise on a regular basis; maintaining a diet low in fat and salt; maintaining a healthy weight; managing stress; and practicing good hygiene.

Symptoms of heart disease are as varied as the types of diseases they represent and may be different for women and men. Ultimately, heart disease is caused by narrowed, blocked or stiff blood vessels that impede blood flow and can include angina (or chest pain, as it is commonly known); shortness of breath; numbness, coldness and weakness in the legs or arms; and pains in the jaw, neck, upper abdomen, throat or back.

Many patients are not diagnosed until they have a heart attack or stroke. It is important to have regular doctor checkups and to discuss any symptoms that occur.

Here are 10 things that most people don’t know but should know about heart diseases.

1)    Approximately 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States each year. It is the leading cause of death for men and women, accounting for one in four deaths and roughly half of all male deaths. Most of the deaths come from coronary heart disease.