There's no magic pill to keep your heart young, but there is a magic formula -exercise and a healthy lifestyle. To achieve long-term heart health, you need to evaluate your overall lifestyle choices. You do not necessarily need to make major lifestyle changes all at once, but you should make gradual changes to your diet and exercise routine while simultaneously eliminating bad habits. Thinking about a gradual transition to a healthier lifestyle is a sure road to successful heart health. 

Slow and Steady Wins the Race 

If you're just getting started with heart-friendly cardio exercise, try an activity that's gentle on the newbie, such as swimming, walking or biking. Work up to 30 minutes per day most days of the week, as you start to feel more in shape. If you want to lose weight in addition to keeping your heart healthy, you should shoot for 45 minutes to an hour of exercise every day. The same gradual approach works just as well when it comes to making changes in your diet. 

Personalize Your Lifestyle 

When implementing changes, incorporate what you already know about your personality into your plan. If you are not a morning person, for example, do not schedule trips to the gym before work, because it is unlikely you will meet your exercise goals. Also, don't panic if finding an extra 30 minutes in your day seems impossible--you can do three 10-minute sessions rather than one half-hour session. Even activities such as gardening or walking laps around a large department store can get your blood pumping and make your heart happy. 

Making Time 

Heart health can't be something you just squeeze in when you have time. It is important to put heart health first, which means reducing work-related stress, coming up with activities for your family that keep everyone active, and monitoring your glucose and cholesterol levels. Many patients are pleasantly surprised by the stress reduction they experience as a result of exercising more. If nothing else, 30 minutes of exercise is a period of time to gain clarity and avoid email, texts, phone calls and other forms of stress. 

Washington Regional recently received a $150,000 grant to provide palliative care services for patients who are dealing with complicated medical issues. The grant from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas will also help fund efforts to increase awareness about the benefits and services of the Washington Regional Palliative Care Team. 

A medical specialty focusing on the unique needs of patients who have a serious illness or complex medical condition, palliative care aims to improve a patient's quality of life by managing troubling symptoms and providing emotional, spiritual and practical support. While it is often provided in conjunction with hospice care, patients who are receiving palliative care typically are still actively investigating treatment options and seeking a cure.

"Palliative care is an additional way we can fulfill the Washington Regional mission of providing quality, compassionate care," says Mark S. Thomas, MD, medical director of the Palliative Care Team. "We can attend to patients' physical needs with our nurse and doctor, their spiritual needs with our chaplain and their social and mental health needs with our social worker. This generous gift from the Blue & You Foundation will help ensure that Washington Regional patients and families get the support they need."

Shown above: The Washington Regional Palliative Care Team includes nurse Susan Pride, RN, MSN, chaplain Charlie Brown, PhD, BCCC, Dr. Mark Thomas and social worker Carly Franklin, BSW, LMSW.

Learn more about Palliative Care services >>