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Regular physical activity can help you lose excess weight; improve physical fitness; lower many heart disease risk factors such as “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, increase “good” HDL cholesterol levels, and manage high blood pressure; lower stress and improve your mental health; and lower your risk for other conditions such as type 2 diabetes, depression, and cancer. Even modest amounts of physical activity are good for your health.

Research suggests that an emotionally upsetting event, particularly one involving anger, can serve as a trigger for a heart attack or angina in some people. Stress can contribute to high blood pressure and other heart disease risk factors. Some of the ways people cope with stress—drinking alcohol, using other substances, smoking, or overeating—are not healthy ways to manage stress.

A healthy weight for adults is usually when the body mass index (BMI) is between 18.5 and 24.9. To figure out your BMI, use our online BMI calculator.

Heart-healthy eating involves choosing certain foods, such as fruits and vegetables, while limiting others, such as saturated and trans fats and added sugars. Your doctor may recommend the heart-healthy Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan because it has been proven to lower high blood pressure and “bad” LDL cholesterol in the blood. Visit our Delicious Heart-Healthy Eating page for recipes, cooking tips, and more.

If you have hypersensitivity pneumonitis, you can take steps to control the condition and prevent complications by receiving routine follow-up care, monitoring your condition, preventing new acute flares and complications, and learning about and preparing for serious complications.

Treatments for hypersensitivity pneumonitis usually include avoidance strategies and medicines such as corticosteroids or immunosuppressive that reduce inflammation. Other supportive therapies include oxygen therapy, bronchodilators, or opioids. Occasionally, lung transplants are used to treat severe chronic disease in some patients.

To diagnose hypersensitivity pneumonitis, your doctor will collect your medical history, assess exposure history to possible causative substances, perform a physical exam, and possibly order diagnostic tests and procedures such as: blood tests, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), computed tomography (CT), inhalation challenge tests, lung biopsies, lung function tests, precipitin tests, or chest x-rays.

Signs and symptoms vary between acute, subacute, and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis and may include flu-like illness including fever, chills, muscle or joint pain, or headaches; rales; cough; chronic bronchitis; shortness of breath; anorexia or weight loss; fatigue; fibrosis of the lungs; or clubbing of fingers or toes. Complications of chronic disease may include irreversible lung damage, permanently reduced lung function, pulmonary hypotension, or heart failure.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is caused by repeated exposure to environmental substances that cause inflammation in the lungs when inhaled. Substances include: bacteria, fungi or molds, proteins, or chemicals.