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دانلود فایل ها و تحقیقات دانشگاهی ,جزوات آموزشیتحقیق در مورد بیماری قلبی (بافرمت word)
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تعداد صفحات: 22
Happy & Healthy Heart Qigong
July 11 to July 16, 2008
Grow a Happy and Health Heart with Chinese "Chi" Exercises
- taught by Minke de Vos, Senior Instructor.
Happy and Healthy Heart Chi Kung
Open the Heart of the Tao, the Way of Natural Healing
Are you ready for a change of heart? Open your heart to new possibilities for yourself through the contemplation of fundamental questions – questions which penetrate the core of life.
What is on your heart? Do you have conflicting “voices” that disturb your “Heart Mind”? How does an individual come to peace with her/his Self? During the Heart Chi Kung Retreat, you will learn how to deal gracefully with the challenges of life. Discover what your heart longs for as well as what nourishes your heart.
Relationships, heartbreaks and separations have a serious effect on human health. All of us are worthy of respectful communication and honor. It is essential to learn how to communicate with the heart of others. If we become involved in distractions to avoid a problem, the problem will often grow in the shadows. Slow down when you are not feeling well or your relationships are on the rocks. Give yourself the space to contemplate, heal and restore your energy.
I experienced the major stresses in life all at once, divorce, the collapse of my life’s work and my health. It was a challenge and what kept me going was unconditional love. The Inner Smile never left me. I was close to death’s door and experienced the total rebuilding of my health. My practice of meditation and Chi Kung helped me to restore my body back after a heart transplant. I have experienced profound healing on all levels through my practice. It is miraculous what energy medicine can do in preventing illness and supporting the life-saving skills of Western medicine.
The spiritual qualities of acceptance, compassion and gratitude have the potential to heal rifts of the soul. What are three blessings that you cherish right now? What do you “hear” when you listen to your heart? We go into our heart to sense the truth. Awaken inspiration by connecting your creative energy with your own higher wisdom. Empower your higher purpose with clear intentions.
In our heart center there is a place where we are always free. Even if we are in prison, we can still be free in our hearts to believe in what we want. When you follow your heart, life flows with synchronicity. You may recall circumstances when you followed your heart and things worked out very well.
Medical Chi Kung (Qigong) is an ancient form of Chinese Energetic Medicine, dating back at least 5000 years. It is one of the four branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chi Kung practitioners today utilize and master the secret knowledge passed down from the “Wu Yi, Qigong meta-physician healers” of ancient times. The practices have been time-tested for longevity and improving the quality of your life.
Cultivate health by respecting our body’s wisdom and flowing with the different seasons of our lives. Chi Kung is beneficial for people of all ages and enhances youthful aging. The Qigong Institute has a database of some 3,500 studies "reporting qigong's positive effects on hypertension, arthritis and longevity." I encourage people to develop a kinder, more compassionate relationship with themselves and those around them. You will become aware of new ways to relate to your body, heart and mind. Both beginners and professionals will benefit from these powerful tools for self-transformation.
When you point to your self where do you point to? Most of us will point to our heart and not the head. The ancients called the heart the ‘Palace of the Spirit’. When our Heart Spirit is happy, it is natural to spontaneously smile. Our real nature is happiness. Happiness is central to every ones’ sense of well being. Chi Kung practice offers you ways to connect with your natural happiness, restore your energy and enhance your health. You will learn at this retreat the following effective ways to cultivate wellness and connect with the vast, wise Universal Heart:
The Inner Smile centers and calms the heart. How can you keep your heart open to all the ups and downs of life? The practice of loving acceptance is essential to keeping centered in these times of accelerated change. The Inner Smile meditation is a way to make friends with the spiritual and physical intelligence of your vital organs, from which your emotions arise. Feel how your body smiles back! Even your chemistry will change and become more balanced.
Growing Virtue Energy we empower whatever reality you want to co-create and boost whatever path you are on. The cultivation of compassion and wisdom makes your life more meaningful. When you connect with your higher guidance through meditation your life becomes inter-dimensional. We weave this high quality energy through our microcosmic energy channels to generate more light. Our heart becomes radiant and loving. We become a lighthouse that withstands the storms. We will practice the Inner Smile in the Creation Cycle, the order of the seasons, to grow more virtue energy. What you focus on you grow. When we live the virtues they grow.
Breath as the Flywheel - The heart is constantly beating, 100,000 times per day, propelling six quarts of blood through 60,000 miles of veins, 20 times the distance across the US from coast to coast. Abdominal breathing mobilizes the circulation so the heart does not have to work so hard. Chi Kung is Oriental Breath Therapy.
Chi Breathing brings energy to the heart. Do you want more energy to live your life to the fullest? We urgently need to grow our healing energy to bring more peace, love and harmony to this world. The key to healing is the conscious breathing of “chi”, the life force that nourishes us. We can breathe consciously and unconsciously, so breath is the bridge between our conscious and unconscious mind. The seat of our consciousness sits in the Heart. “Listen to your heart, Follow your heart, Be true to your self.” There are so many expressions that point to the heart as the Palace of the Spirit. Let your heart breathe freely and set your self free.
Communicate with your Heart and you will communicate with your whole body. The Heart is the Emperor that rules the whole body and communicates with every cell. When the emperor is not happy, the whole kingdom is not happy. When the emperor is feeling good, you feel good. The heart is the conductor of your internal orchestra and is central to creating a harmonious state of being.
Sexual Energy Cultivation fuels the fire of love. Sexuality is a lifelong vital part health and longevity. How can we grow and radiate love? Sexual vitality is the rejuvenating life force and the force behind creative change. It is a very important source of energy that flows through us and keeps us strong. Consciously cultivating of our sexual energy, our innate vitality and deeper life essence, is very healing for the body. We tap into the fountain of youth, our basic rejuvenating life force. The more love, the more orgasmic our experiences become. Feeling orgasmic increases our cardiovascular strength.
Yin Essence is a healing elixir. Dr. Stephen Chang writes, “When the yin energy increases, negative ions are generated. Together these stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, resulting in decreased blood pressure, slower heartbeat and breathing.” When we mix sexual energy into our saliva we produce a “long-life wine”.
Self Love - To be loved, to love and to be free are essential gestures for feeling happy. Healing starts with self-love. Passion is transformed into compassion through spiritual practice.
Stress Management is crucial in keeping the heart healthy. Heart disease is the number one killer. How can we manage stress in a way that protects our heart? At this Healing Tao Heart Chi Kung Retreat you will learn many tools to deal with stress by building a stronger mind-heart-body connection. The physical training through integrated movement becomes a gateway to the spiritual.
Emotional Transformation is felt by the heart, which perceives our emotions. I have added the Healing Sounds to the traditional form of “Balance the Heart Chi Kung” to enhance the emotional transformation. For example, the Triple Warmer Sound is used to cool down excess heat and calm the mind and heart. We will also ground and recharge with tree hugging. The trees help to neutralize our negativity and nourish our soul.
Calm the Blood, Calm the Ego - The practices are designed to balance fire and water, calming the heart with water and warming the kidneys with fire. This prevents the heart from being “cooked” by “false fire”, and over-stimulated by adrenalin, external stimulants, and stress. Make the blood peaceful. When the ego, which works through the muscles, aligns with the higher good there is less personal tension. The ego relaxes. The seat of the ego is in the physical heart. When we feel separate from the world it creates a subtle contraction in the heart. When we connect with the vast Universal Heart, the Love that binds all beings, our heart expands. Our heart is the seat of consciousness, compassion and unconditional love.
Negative Emotions, like impatience and hatred, contract the heart. The heart is an organ of perception, which perceives the feelings arising from the other organs. The heart is considered a pump but when they bypass the heart the blood moves faster. It regulates the blood to perceive the feelings in the blood. When we feel angry our face turns red and our hands clench into fists. There is a lot of energy but it hits resistance and there is closure in the heart. This contraction can be harmful for the heart, and creates damaging cholesterol. On the other hand, appropriate anger is the first line of defense, which protects our heart.
Love brings out the best in us. When we smile with love and appreciation to someone, that person feels good and will work better. When we smile to our heart and shine love to our other organs it brings out the virtues and balances any excess negativity that may be held there. The heart is like the sun, which brings out the beauty of nature. Have you noticed that more people are smiling on a sunny day? The heart thrives on love. Married people tend to live longer lives. Divorce or the death of a loved one can become a medical emergency. Creating a loving
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Happy & Healthy Heart Qigong
July 11 to July 16, 2008
Grow a Happy and Health Heart with Chinese "Chi" Exercises
- taught by Minke de Vos, Senior Instructor.
Happy and Healthy Heart Chi Kung
Open the Heart of the Tao, the Way of Natural Healing
Are you ready for a change of heart? Open your heart to new possibilities for yourself through the contemplation of fundamental questions – questions which penetrate the core of life.
What is on your heart? Do you have conflicting “voices” that disturb your “Heart Mind”? How does an individual come to peace with her/his Self? During the Heart Chi Kung Retreat, you will learn how to deal gracefully with the challenges of life. Discover what your heart longs for as well as what nourishes your heart.
Relationships, heartbreaks and separations have a serious effect on human health. All of us are worthy of respectful communication and honor. It is essential to learn how to communicate with the heart of others. If we become involved in distractions to avoid a problem, the problem will often grow in the shadows. Slow down when you are not feeling well or your relationships are on the rocks. Give yourself the space to contemplate, heal and restore your energy.
I experienced the major stresses in life all at once, divorce, the collapse of my life’s work and my health. It was a challenge and what kept me going was unconditional love. The Inner Smile never left me. I was close to death’s door and experienced the total rebuilding of my health. My practice of meditation and Chi Kung helped me to restore my body back after a heart transplant. I have experienced profound healing on all levels through my practice. It is miraculous what energy medicine can do in preventing illness and supporting the life-saving skills of Western medicine.
The spiritual qualities of acceptance, compassion and gratitude have the potential to heal rifts of the soul. What are three blessings that you cherish right now? What do you “hear” when you listen to your heart? We go into our heart to sense the truth. Awaken inspiration by connecting your creative energy with your own higher wisdom. Empower your higher purpose with clear intentions.
In our heart center there is a place where we are always free. Even if we are in prison, we can still be free in our hearts to believe in what we want. When you follow your heart, life flows with synchronicity. You may recall circumstances when you followed your heart and things worked out very well.
Medical Chi Kung (Qigong) is an ancient form of Chinese Energetic Medicine, dating back at least 5000 years. It is one of the four branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chi Kung practitioners today utilize and master the secret knowledge passed down from the “Wu Yi, Qigong meta-physician healers” of ancient times. The practices have been time-tested for longevity and improving the quality of your life.
Cultivate health by respecting our body’s wisdom and flowing with the different seasons of our lives. Chi Kung is beneficial for people of all ages and enhances youthful aging. The Qigong Institute has a database of some 3,500 studies "reporting qigong's positive effects on hypertension, arthritis and longevity." I encourage people to develop a kinder, more compassionate relationship with themselves and those around them. You will become aware of new ways to relate to your body, heart and mind. Both beginners and professionals will benefit from these powerful tools for self-transformation.
When you point to your self where do you point to? Most of us will point to our heart and not the head. The ancients called the heart the ‘Palace of the Spirit’. When our Heart Spirit is happy, it is natural to spontaneously smile. Our real nature is happiness. Happiness is central to every ones’ sense of well being. Chi Kung practice offers you ways to connect with your natural happiness, restore your energy and enhance your health. You will learn at this retreat the following effective ways to cultivate wellness and connect with the vast, wise Universal Heart:
The Inner Smile centers and calms the heart. How can you keep your heart open to all the ups and downs of life? The practice of loving acceptance is essential to keeping centered in these times of accelerated change. The Inner Smile meditation is a way to make friends with the spiritual and physical intelligence of your vital organs, from which your emotions arise. Feel how your body smiles back! Even your chemistry will change and become more balanced.
Growing Virtue Energy we empower whatever reality you want to co-create and boost whatever path you are on. The cultivation of compassion and wisdom makes your life more meaningful. When you connect with your higher guidance through meditation your life becomes inter-dimensional. We weave this high quality energy through our microcosmic energy channels to generate more light. Our heart becomes radiant and loving. We become a lighthouse that withstands the storms. We will practice the Inner Smile in the Creation Cycle, the order of the seasons, to grow more virtue energy. What you focus on you grow. When we live the virtues they grow.
Breath as the Flywheel - The heart is constantly beating, 100,000 times per day, propelling six quarts of blood through 60,000 miles of veins, 20 times the distance across the US from coast to coast. Abdominal breathing mobilizes the circulation so the heart does not have to work so hard. Chi Kung is Oriental Breath Therapy.
Chi Breathing brings energy to the heart. Do you want more energy to live your life to the fullest? We urgently need to grow our healing energy to bring more peace, love and harmony to this world. The key to healing is the conscious breathing of “chi”, the life force that nourishes us. We can breathe consciously and unconsciously, so breath is the bridge between our conscious and unconscious mind. The seat of our consciousness sits in the Heart. “Listen to your heart, Follow your heart, Be true to your self.” There are so many expressions that point to the heart as the Palace of the Spirit. Let your heart breathe freely and set your self free.
Communicate with your Heart and you will communicate with your whole body. The Heart is the Emperor that rules the whole body and communicates with every cell. When the emperor is not happy, the whole kingdom is not happy. When the emperor is feeling good, you feel good. The heart is the conductor of your internal orchestra and is central to creating a harmonious state of being.
Sexual Energy Cultivation fuels the fire of love. Sexuality is a lifelong vital part health and longevity. How can we grow and radiate love? Sexual vitality is the rejuvenating life force and the force behind creative change. It is a very important source of energy that flows through us and keeps us strong. Consciously cultivating of our sexual energy, our innate vitality and deeper life essence, is very healing for the body. We tap into the fountain of youth, our basic rejuvenating life force. The more love, the more orgasmic our experiences become. Feeling orgasmic increases our cardiovascular strength.
Yin Essence is a healing elixir. Dr. Stephen Chang writes, “When the yin energy increases, negative ions are generated. Together these stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, resulting in decreased blood pressure, slower heartbeat and breathing.” When we mix sexual energy into our saliva we produce a “long-life wine”.
Self Love - To be loved, to love and to be free are essential gestures for feeling happy. Healing starts with self-love. Passion is transformed into compassion through spiritual practice.
Stress Management is crucial in keeping the heart healthy. Heart disease is the number one killer. How can we manage stress in a way that protects our heart? At this Healing Tao Heart Chi Kung Retreat you will learn many tools to deal with stress by building a stronger mind-heart-body connection. The physical training through integrated movement becomes a gateway to the spiritual.
Emotional Transformation is felt by the heart, which perceives our emotions. I have added the Healing Sounds to the traditional form of “Balance the Heart Chi Kung” to enhance the emotional transformation. For example, the Triple Warmer Sound is used to cool down excess heat and calm the mind and heart. We will also ground and recharge with tree hugging. The trees help to neutralize our negativity and nourish our soul.
Calm the Blood, Calm the Ego - The practices are designed to balance fire and water, calming the heart with water and warming the kidneys with fire. This prevents the heart from being “cooked” by “false fire”, and over-stimulated by adrenalin, external stimulants, and stress. Make the blood peaceful. When the ego, which works through the muscles, aligns with the higher good there is less personal tension. The ego relaxes. The seat of the ego is in the physical heart. When we feel separate from the world it creates a subtle contraction in the heart. When we connect with the vast Universal Heart, the Love that binds all beings, our heart expands. Our heart is the seat of consciousness, compassion and unconditional love.
Negative Emotions, like impatience and hatred, contract the heart. The heart is an organ of perception, which perceives the feelings arising from the other organs. The heart is considered a pump but when they bypass the heart the blood moves faster. It regulates the blood to perceive the feelings in the blood. When we feel angry our face turns red and our hands clench into fists. There is a lot of energy but it hits resistance and there is closure in the heart. This contraction can be harmful for the heart, and creates damaging cholesterol. On the other hand, appropriate anger is the first line of defense, which protects our heart.
Love brings out the best in us. When we smile with love and appreciation to someone, that person feels good and will work better. When we smile to our heart and shine love to our other organs it brings out the virtues and balances any excess negativity that may be held there. The heart is like the sun, which brings out the beauty of nature. Have you noticed that more people are smiling on a sunny day? The heart thrives on love. Married people tend to live longer lives. Divorce or the death of a loved one can become a medical emergency. Creating a loving
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A heart attack is when low blood flow causes the heart to starve for oxygen. Heart muscle dies or becomes permanently damaged. Your doctor calls this a myocardial infarction
Causes
Most heart attacks are caused by a blood clot that blocks one of the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries bring blood and oxygen to the heart. If the blood flow is blocked, the heart starves for oxygen and heart cells die.
A clot most often forms in a coronary artery that has become narrow because of the build-up of a substance called plaque along the artery walls. (See: atherosclerosis) Sometimes, the plaque cracks and triggers a blood clot to form.
Occasionally, sudden overwhelming stress can trigger a heart attack.
It is difficult to estimate exactly how common heart attacks are because as many as 200,000 to 300,000 people in the United States die each year before medical help is sought. It is estimated that approximately 1 million patients visit the hospital each year with a heart attack. About 1 out of every 5 deaths are due to a heart attack.
Risk factors for heart attack and coronary artery disease include:
Bad genes (hereditary factors)
Being male
Diabetes
Getting older
High blood pressure
Smoking
Too much fat in your diet
Unhealthy cholesterol levels, especially high LDL ("bad") cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol
Higher-than-normal levels of homocysteine, C-reactive protein, and fibrinogen may also increase your risk for a heart attack. Homocysteine is an amino acid. C-reactive protein and fibrinogen are linked to inflammation. Fibrinogen is also involved in blood clotting
Angina is the primary symptom of coronary artery disease and, in severe cases, of a heart attack. It is typically experienced as chest pain and occurs when the heart muscle does not get as much blood (hence as much oxygen) as it needs for a given level of work (ischemia). Angina is usually referred to as one of two states:
Stable Angina (which is predictable)
Unstable Angina (which is less predictable and a sign of a more serious situation)
Click the icon to see an image about angina.
The intensity of the pain does not always relate to the severity of the medical problem. Some people may feel a crushing pain from mild ischemia, while others might experience only mild discomfort from severe ischemia.
Angina itself is not a disease. Much evidence indicates that onset of angina less than 48 hours before a heart attack may be protective, possibly by conditioning the heart to resist the damage resulting from the attack. Angina may be experienced in different ways and can be mild, moderate, or severe.
Stable Angina and Chest Pain
Stable Angina. Stable angina is predictable chest pain. Although less serious than unstable angina, it can be extremely painful or uncomfortable. It is usually relieved by rest and responds well to medical treatment (typically nitroglycerin). Any event that increases oxygen demand can cause an angina attack. Some typical triggers include:
Exercise
Cold weather
Emotional tension
Large meals
Angina attacks can occur at any time during the day, but most occur between 6 a.m. and noon.
Specific symptoms that are more likely to indicate angina include:
Angina pain or discomfort is typically described by patients as fullness or tingling, squeezing, pressure, heavy, suffocating, or griplike. It is rarely described as stabbing or burning. Changing one's position or breathing in and out does not affect the pain.
A typical angina attack lasts minutes. If it is more fleeting or lasts for hours, it is probably not angina.
Pain is usually in the chest under the breast bone. It often radiates to the neck, jaw, or left shoulder and arm. Less commonly, patients report symptoms that radiate to the right arm or back, or even to the upper abdomen.
Stable angina is usually relieved by rest or by taking nitroglycerine under the tongue.
Other symptoms that may indicate angina or accompany the pain or pressure in the chest include:
Shortness of breath
Nausea, vomiting, and cold sweats
A feeling of indigestion or heartburn
Unexplained fatigue after activity (more common in women)
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Palpitations
Unstable Angina and Symptoms of Possible Heart Attack
Unstable angina is a much more serious situation and is often an intermediate stage between stable angina and a heart attack, in which an artery leading to the heart (a coronary artery) becomes completely blocked. A patient is usually diagnosed with unstable angina under one or more of the following conditions:
Pain awakens a patient or occurs during rest.
A patient who has never experienced angina has severe or moderate pain during mild exertion (walking two level blocks or climbing one flight of stairs).
Stable angina has progressed in severity and frequency within a 2-month period, and medications are less effective in relieving its pain.
Fainting episode.
Unstable angina is now usually discussed as part of a condition called acute coronary syndrome (ACS). ACS also includes people with a condition called NSTEMI (non ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction) -- also referred to as non-Q wave heart attack. With NSTEMI, blood tests suggest a developing heart attack. These conditions are less severe than heart attacks but may develop into full-blown attacks without aggressive treatment. <!--[For more information, see In-Depth Report #12: Heart attack and acute coronary syndrome.]-->
Doctors use a number of factors to help predict which patients with unstable angina or acute coronary syndrome are most at risk for developing a heart attack.
First, patients are categorized by whether they have a history of heart disease or risk factors for heart disease (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and peripheral artery disease) or other complicating conditions (such as lung disease and heart failure). The doctor also evaluates the severity of the angina. Other factors that pose a high risk for ACS include:
Age 65 years or older
Evidence of severe heart tissue injury
A history of severe chronic angina
Abnormal lung sounds called rales (a bubbling or crackling sound) on examination
ST-segment deviation on the electrocardiogram
Either very slow or very fast heat beats
Very low blood pressure
Heart Attack. A full-blown heart attack occurs with severe damage to the heart, which blocks oxygen.
People with known heart disease and any unusual chest pain or other symptoms described above that do not clear up with medications should call 911. The degree of pain and the specific symptoms before a heart attack vary greatly among individuals. Symptoms can be abrupt, gradual, or intermittent. Some studies suggest that nearly half of patients with heart attack do not have chest pain as the primary symptom. Patients most likely to have atypical symptoms are women and the very elderly (although they can certainly have classic heart attack symptoms as well).
Symptoms That Are Less Likely to Indicate Angina or a Heart Attack. The following symptoms are less likely to be due to coronary artery disease:
Sharp pain brought on by breathing in and or when coughing
Pain that is mainly or only in the middle or lower abdomen
Pain that can be pinpointed with the top of one finger
Pain that can be reproduced by moving or pressing on the chest wall or arms
Pain that is constant and lasts for hours (although no one should wait hours if they suspect they are having a heart attack)
Pain that is very brief and lasts for a few seconds
Pain that spreads to the legs
However, the presence of these symptoms does not always rule out a serious heart event.
Other Types of Angina
Prinzmetal's Angina. A third type of angina, called variant or Prinzmetal's angina, is caused by a spasm of a coronary artery. It almost always occurs when the patient is at rest. About two-thirds of people with it have severe atherosclerosis in at least one major blood vessel. Irregular heartbeats are common, but the pain is generally relieved immediately with standard treatment.
Silent Ischemia. Some people with severe coronary artery disease do not have angina pain. This condition is known as silent ischemia, which some experts attribute to the brain abnormally processing of heart pain. This is a dangerous condition because patients have no warning signs of heart disease. Some studies suggest that people with silent ischemia experience higher complication and mortality rates than those with angina pain.
Syndrome X. Syndrome X is a condition that occurs when patients have atypical angina chest pain. Their electrocardiograms are abnormal during a stress test, but they have no signs of blocked arteries. It is more likely to occur in women. Although it is unclear what causes this condition, imaging tests suggest that Syndrome X may also be caused by ischemia, as is angina.
Other Causes of Chest Pain or Discomfort
Chest pain is a very common symptom in the emergency room, but heart problems account for only 10 - 33% of all episodes.
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Reducing risk of heart disease
Changing lifestyles for a happier heart
By: Melissa Haug
Issue date: 11/15/06 Section: Sports
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By Melissa HaugKansas State CollegianHeart disease is not something you catch because you forgot to wash your hands or because you shared a beverage with a thirsty friend. Heart disease, instead, is brought on by several health conditions that relate to the heart and blood vessels, onset by daily events.Although you might feel immune to this condition and its devastating effects for the moment, it's likely you're already at risk for a heart attack or stroke in the future. The good news is modifiable risk factors outnumber those you can't change. Prevention starts with your decisions today.As the leading cause of death in America, heart disease is no laughing matter. According to the Centers for Disease Control, deaths from heart disease in 2004 outranked the second-leading cause of death, cancer, by a whopping 103,822 deaths.With so many annual deaths from this disease, why do we continue to turn the other cheek? How do we not take it upon ourselves to protect our health for now and the future?Keep in mind high-risk factors do not guarantee you a heart attack or stroke, but the more risk factors you choose not to control, the greater your statistical chances for heart disease and hardships later in life.Uncontrollable High-Risk FactorsAccording to the American Heart Association, if your father or brother experienced heart disease before age 55, or if your mother or sister experienced heart disease before age 65, you are at a higher risk to contract the disease. According to American Dietetics Association, blacks with high blood pressure, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and some Asian Americans have shown greater prevalence for heart disease.Controllable Risk FactorsSmoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes and secondhand smoke causes high blood pressure or hypertension, according to the American Heart Association. This forces the heart to work harder, causing enlargement of the heart muscle, which eventually weakens it.