Page 41 - Demo

41www.i-am-magazine.com4. Build strong leg muscles: Circulationis more than just about arteries. In orderto keep blood flowing, you need to haveyour veins bring the blood back from theperiphery of your body. Veins that aren%u2019tsupported by strong valves and strongmuscles can be sluggish, and the flow canstagnate in the legs. This leads to venousdilation called varicose veins. You canprevent varicose veins and improve yourcirculation by keeping the muscles of yourlegs strong, avoiding standing for longperiods of time, and by wearingcompression stockings, especially if youdon%u2019t exercise much or if your job requireslong periods of standing. If the veinsbecome sluggish and dilate, you can getleakage of blood from the veins so thatleakage of blood from the veins so thatthe veins become irritated, creating acondition called superficialthrombophlebitis, a painful conditioninvolving inflammation in veins that havepoor circulation.5. Stop smoking: Good circulationrequires excellent air exchange betweenthe de-oxygenated blood and theoxygenated blood taken in when webreathe fresh, oxygenated air. Smokingcan do damage to the small bubble-likealveoli that are where oxygen and carbondioxide exchange places within the lungs.You need healthy lungs for goodcirculation and for good air exchange thatwill provide enough oxygen to tissues inthe rest of the body. Smoking alsocontributes to vascular disease andincreases the risk of various types ofheart disease.