A healthy heart
What do I need to know?
Since the 1970’s death rates for coronary heart disease have been falling rapidly in the UK. However despite this, death rates in the UK are still among the highest in Western Europe.
Coronary heart disease, the main form of Cardiovascular disease, causes over 117,000 deaths a year in the UK: approximately one in five deaths in men and one in six deaths in women.Our lifestyle and eating habits are the main contributory factors to these statistics, but with a few modifications the risks can be dramatically reduced.
What should I be doing?
There are six big risk factors that you should generally start to monitor and become more aware of as part of your lifestyle.These are:
- Cholesterol
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- Family history
Be aware of your risk factors and also ask your doctor to check your blood pressure and have a cholesterol blood test. The good news is that there is a lot that can be done about it, as many of these risk factors are modifiable, eg eating a more healthy diet, taking regular exercise and stopping smoking.
Top Tips:
- Increase fruit and vegetables in your daily diet
- Reduce salt intake
- Take more physical activity
- Modify alcohol consumption
- Make plans to give up smoking
- Manage stress & anxiety
Really Useful Information:
British Heart Foundationwww.bhf.org.uk
Blood Pressure Associationwww.bpassoc.org
Action Smoking and Healthwww.ash.org.uk
Stress in the Workplacewww.hse.gov.uk/stress
Food Standards Agencywww.eatwell.gov.uk
British Diabetic Associationwww.diabetes.org.uk