• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• A low level of HDL i.e. good cholesterol
• Diabetes

Even moderately intense physical activity such as brisk walking is beneficial when done regularly for a total of 30 minutes or longer 3-6 days a week. There are 3 kinds of exercises that can be done. They are:

Stretching (stay loose)

Aerobic (for blood flow and oxygen)

Strengthening (toning or building muscles)

The most important exercise for the heart is aerobic exercises. Walking, jogging, running, swimming, dancing and cycling are aerobic.

The decision to carry out a physical fitness programme cannot be taken lightly. It requires a life long commitment of time and effort. Exercise must become one of those things that you do without question, like bathing, brushing your teeth. Unless you are convinced of the benefits of fitness and the risks of unfitness, you will not succeed.

How often, how long and how hard and what kinds of exercises you do should be determined by what you are trying to accomplish. For example, an athlete training for high level competition would follow a different programme than a person whose goals are good health and the ability to meet work and recreational needs.

When should you exercise?

The hour just before the evening meal is a popular time for exercise. Another popular time to work out is early morning, before the work day begins.

What are the benefits of exercise?

The heart can pump more blood and oxygen to the body.

Most people will have more energy

You sleep better and feel less stress

Blood pressure and blood sugar go down

You can tone muscles and lose body fat

Your HDL i.e., good cholesterol goes up

Smokers are four times more at risk of suffering from a heart attack than non-smokers; and that risk becomes almost eight times if the smoker is a diabetic.

At the Annual Convention of the Cardiological Society of India, experts opined that the control of cholesterol, regular exercise and restraint from smoking could greatly reduce the risk of heart disease. Passive smokers are also at risk from heart trouble. The increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease in India is a cause for concern within the medical community.

Smoking is as much a psychosocial dependence as it is a physiological one. Adolescents usually begin to smoke under peer pressure and it soon becomes a habit and the individual becomes dependent on nicotine. In due course, smoking starts affecting the cardiovascular system.

Constant smoking causes the heart to require more oxygen for the same amount of work. It also causes a rise in blood pressure and changes in the heart rhythm. Nicotine is also known to increase the fatty acid concentration of the blood making blood more prone to clotting.

There are some alarming facts that chain smokers need to know. While 15 percent of non-smokers over the age of 35 years can expect to die before they are 65, this figure increases to about 40 percent in case of people who smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day. The average loss of life for a smoker is approximately 5 years. The time by which a habitual smoker's life is shortened is about 5 minutes per cigarette smoked.