Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals | Bruce Greenstein, Secretary

Heart Disease & Stroke

Lance C. LaMotte, MD, FACC, FSCAI, Board-Certified Cardiology Care Southeastern Cardiology Consultants

DHH's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program works with communities around Louisiana to help people stay healthy and avoid having a heart attack or a stroke. The program encourages people to eat healthy foods and stay physically active, which lowers the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Keeping Your Heart Healthy

Changing your eating habits to improve your heart health doesn't have to mean sacrificing the foods and flavors you love. Read more>>

Are you at risk? There are a lot of factors that increase your chances of developing heart disease. Read more>>

Heart diseases appear in many forns, and while most of them are preventable, a lot of times these diseases are gender, age or family-history-related and are beyond your control. Read more >>

A lot of foods are naturally packed with vitamins and nutrients that can improve heart health. Read more>>

Heart disease is a broad term encompassing several diseases
such as cardiovascular, coronary, ischaemic, hypertensive, inflammatory and valvular heart diseases. Read more>>

Prevention: What Can You Do

• Eat a healthy diet. Choosing healthful meal and snack options can help you avoid heart disease and its complications. Be sure to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

  Eating foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber can help prevent high blood cholesterol. Limiting salt or sodium in your diet also can lower your blood pressure.

  For more information on healthy diet and nutrition, see CDC's Nutrition and Physical Activity Program Web site.

• Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese can increase your risk for heart disease. To determine whether your weight is in a healthy range, doctors often calculate a number called the body mass index (BMI). Doctors sometimes also use waist and hip measurements to measure a person's excess body fat.

  If you know your weight and height, you can calculate your BMI at CDC's Assessing Your Weight Web site.

• Exercise regularly. Physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower cholesterol and blood pressure. The Surgeon General recommends that adults should engage in moderate-intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week.

  For more information, see CDC's Nutrition and Physical Activity Program Web site.

• Don't smoke. Cigarette smoking greatly increases your risk for heart disease. So, if you don't smoke, don't start. If you do smoke, quitting will lower your risk for heart disease. Your doctor can suggest ways to help you quit.

  For more information about tobacco use and quitting, see CDC's Smoking & Tobacco Use Web site.

• Limit alcohol use. Avoid drinking too much alcohol, which causes high blood pressure. For more information, visit CDC's Alcohol and Public Health Web site.