Don’t slow the flow

February is well known as the month that Saint Valentine strikes the hearts of many, but did you know that it is also Heart Health Month?  It has been kind of difficult to miss lately, what with all of the messages about being red, wearing red, etc. I think it is fair to say that it’s no coincidence that February was named Heart Health Month;  after all, Valentine’s Day is all about our hearts.

So, what makes heart health so important that it needs its own month?  Probably because poor heart health is the leading cause of death in the United States.  Or rather, not taking care of your heart is likely to lead to cardiovascular disease, and data clearly shows that CVD is the leading cause of death in the United States.

What we know is that much of what leads to CVD is related to our behavior.  Yes, one more bad thing that we are doing to ourselves.  There are a lot of things that we do  that can lead us down the path toward poor heart health.  Among the many behaviors, smoking tops the list of behaviors associated with CVD.  Others include a sedentary lifestyle and then there is the diet issue.  The short of it is that engaging in behaviors that lead you down a path toward cardiovascular disease can translate to a lot of negative things including  premature death.  But for most, it really translates to an impaired quality of life sometimes as early as our 30s or 40s, and these consequences can even affect our love lives because it can lead to things like erectile dysfunction and impotence.

I think that the biggest message here is that we can all make some changes to our lifestyles that can help us avoid this disease and even take steps to ensure sexual well being.  CVD is a vascular problem; it is the consequence of behaviors that translate to our bodies working in overdrive.  This cannot be maintained for extended periods and thus, things stop flowing the way they need to in order to function at optimal levels.  If we look at smoking, the issue is simple: smoking leaves plaque on our arteries and other vessels.  Remember, arteries are the vessels that carry blood to and from the heart.   When they have a plaque build-up and become constricted, it requires more pressure to move blood through the arteries.

Similar things happen to our vascular system when we are inactive, when we are overweight or when we have a diet that is high in fat.  Our arteries become constricted and more pressure is required to move blood through our system.  This pressure is referred to as blood pressure.  More plaque equals higher blood pressure, and high blood pressure can mean CVD, erectile dysfunction, impotence and many other related problems.

So, my hope is that you are asking yourself at this point, am I doing something to myself that is affecting my ability to be sexually healthy?  Also, am I doing something now that may affect my ability to be sexually healthy in the future?

I see quite a few men in the clinic who are showing signs of some level of erectile dysfunction.  Medical research across the board does indicate the rates of erectile dysfunction are increasing, but many wonder if this is happening because we are talking about it more.  What most people don’t realize is that, oftentimes, the root cause is behavior, and it is something we can change.

This takes us back to the question at hand, are you doing everything you can to be red, happy and healthy?