Listen to Your Heart on World Health Day

Heart disease is the world’s biggest killer. In the United States, approximately 610,000 people die each year from heart disease. That means one in four people will die from heart disease this year. To bring attention to the risks that cause heart disease, the World Heart Federation has named Saturday, September 29 as World Heart Day. As a trucker, you should be aware that you are at a greater risk of developing heart disease.

Why Should You Be Concerned?

There are many risk factors that lead to heart disease. And as a truck driver, as you do your best to make a living, you’re likely to experience one or more of the following:

• Sitting for long hours at a time because you are driving your rig.
• Not getting enough sleep or exercise.
• Having a poor diet because you quickly grab meals on the run.
• Facing a high-level of stress as you work to meet deadlines while complying with federal regulations.
• Being overweight because according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health seven out of 10 truckers are.
• Have pre-diabetes or diabetes, which increases your risk of heart disease.

Recognizing Signs of Heart Disease

One of the biggest problems with heart disease is that people do not recognize its early signs. It is common for people to think:

• I am too young to have heart disease.
• I do not have any signs of high blood pressure.
• I have family members who have heart disease, so there is nothing I can do to prevent it from happening to me.
• I have a somewhat healthy lifestyle because I do not smoke, try to eat a healthy diet and I exercise.

If you believe these things, you might be surprised to learn that heart disease can hit any age group, even if you are under 50 years of age. And you could have high blood pressure even if you are not showing any common symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations or dizziness. Having family members that have heart diseases increases your risk through heredity, but there are some factors that you can control, like not smoking or having a poor diet. And even seemingly healthy people can suddenly be struck down by heart disease without prior and noticeable symptoms.