Medically reviewed by: Dr. Sohail Bana

Introduction to Heart Disease
The rapid rise in heart disease in the UAE is largely attributed to sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, high-stress levels, and high smoking rates. Urbanization has also played a significant role, leading to a decrease in physical activities.
Men need to become aware of heart disease and its consequences. It’s crucial to understand that lifestyle choices significantly impact heart health. Adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet to prevent heart disease doesn’t just add years to your life; it enhances the quality of those years.
Simple lifestyle changes such as maintaining a balanced diet to prevent heart disease, staying physically active, avoiding smoking, and managing stress can significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks symptoms. Early detection of heart disease symptoms in men, such as heart attack, allows for more effective management and intervention.
In this blog, we aim to help you understand how these lifestyle changes can cut down the risk of heart disease by an ample margin. Knowing the causes of heart attacks and recognizing the signs of heart problems in men can guide early intervention. Ultimately, adopting these heart health tips for men plays a pivotal role in reducing heart health risks and ensuring a healthier future for men in Abu Dhabi.
Understanding Heart Disease
Statistics: Heart Disease Among Men in Abu Dhabi
What is Heart Disease?
Signs of heart disease in men encompasses various medical conditions that impact the heart’s function and structure. Cardiovascular disease in men includes ailments of the heart and blood vessels, such as Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), which involves the narrowing or blockage of coronary arteries, leading to heart attacks symptoms.
Heart Disease Symptoms in Men
Men often experience different heart disease symptoms in men compared to women. Common signs of heart disease in men include chest pain, breathlessness, irregular heartbeat, and pain around the jaw or neck. Early detection is crucial, as ignoring these heart attack symptoms can lead to severe consequences.
Why are Men More Susceptible to Heart Disease?
Men in Abu Dhabi are more prone to heart disease due to factors like smoking, unhealthy diets, and lack of physical activity. Additionally, higher levels of blood pressure and high cholesterol, along with genetic predispositions, contribute to the increased risk.
Preventing Heart Disease
Adopting a healthy diet to prevent heart disease and regular exercise to reduce heart disease is vital for preventing signs of heart disease in men. Men’s heart health is significantly influenced by lifestyle choices, so adapting to positive changes can greatly reduce the risk.
Common Causes of Heart Disease in Men
Heart disease causes depend upon various factors, some of the common factors are as follows:
An Unhealthy Diet: Nutrition's Role in Heart Disease
Most men with heart disease tend to consume a diet of highly processed foods, saturated fats, and salts. These are the most responsible causes of heart disease in men. These increase heart disease incidences linked with these problems: high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Amounts of salt tend to raise blood pressure, which, in turn, is engrossed by the heart; on the other hand, saturated fats elevate the amount of LDL cholesterol that will block the arteries.
An Unhealthy Diet: Nutrition's Role in Heart Disease
Eating high omega-3 fatty acids like flax seeds, along with having fiber-rich whole grains and vegetables, plus consuming antioxidants in fruits, benefits health overall and keeps blood pressure and cholesterol levels low for cardiovascular health.
Lack of Physical Activity
Heart disease is a silent killer that is largely attributed to a sedentary lifestyle resulting in overweight, high blood pressure, and cholesterol problems that could have otherwise been avoided. No matter how it is packaged, a person who lacks physical activity is going to be heavier than others and builds plaque in the arteries, increasing the chances of heart attack symptoms.
Exercise to Reduce Heart Disease:
It should include a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day. Aerobics is an excellent measure of cardiovascular fitness and can reduce cardiovascular disease in men. Some similar exercises that can be included are brisk walking, swimming, and cycling.
High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
When blood pressure or hypertension becomes uncontrolled, damage is made to the heart and the arteries. It causes constant pressure on the heart, forcing it to thicken over time, becoming weaker with this workload. The arteries undergo constant stress by becoming increasingly rigid and narrow over time and may be subject to conditions such as heart attack symptoms or strokes.
The Link Between Stress and Heart Disease in Men

Impact of Stress on the Heart
Increased stress can significantly elevate the risk of developing heart conditions, especially among men. Elevated stress levels can lead to inflammation and higher blood pressure, which are prominent causes of cardiovascular issues. Moreover, stress often results in unhealthy coping mechanisms such as binge eating, excessive drinking, and smoking, all of which increase the risk of heart disease.
The stress-related factors of chest pain, breathlessness, and fatigue are often overlooked or misattributed, causing delays in diagnosis and treatment. It is vital to manage stress effectively through healthy lifestyle choices or medical intervention to reduce these risks and maintain heart health.
Coping with Stress to Protect Heart Health
Preventive Measures and Lifestyle Changes to Avoid Heart Disease
The connection between men and heart disease is evident in how lifestyle choices impact overall health. Men’s heart health can be maintained and heart disease can be reduced, by considering these minor changes in their everyday routine:
Incorporating Regular Exercise for Heart Health
Our hearts and feet need an appropriate amount of physical activity. Maintaining active physical exercise lowers blood circulation and blood pressure every day, strengthens the heart, and reduces the risk of heart disease by inculcating activities such as walking, running, cycling, or cardiovascular exercise.
To keep one’s weight within normal ranges and to reduce stress, exercise improves the individual mentally and physically. For instance, a life in which exercise now becomes normal can free someone from ever suffering from cardiovascular problems and increase longevity and good health.
Healthy Habits for Men’s Heart Health
Sufficient sleep, moderate intake of alcohol, and avoiding all harmful habits play a key role in heart health, particularly men’s heart health. Normally, sleep from seven to nine hours is preferred for the functioning of all human body parts under control and reduces stress, lowering the signs of heart problems in men. It reduces the risk of high blood pressure and heart problems in men by altering lifestyle habits such as avoiding or limiting alcohol consumption. Book your appointment today!
Avoiding harmful habits, such as too much intake of sugar or taking fewer walks, impacts cardiovascular disease in men.