Maintaining Your Heart Health

What You Should Know…

The first step to maintaining a healthy heart is to realise that failing to take proactive steps can lead to heart disease.

So here are a few more things to know:

• Your lifestyle choices can determine the risks of developing heart disease.

• Family History is related to heart disease – you should know yours.
  • A person with relatives who have heart disease may be at a risk of the same condition.

• Monitoring your heart health is not a luxury but a necessity.

What You Should Do:

Physical Checks

• Make it a habit to check your Blood Pressure regularly.
  • You could achieve this by buying a blood pressure machine and checking your blood pressure once a month.
  • If you get a blood pressure reading more than 120 (systolic)/ 70 (diastolic) mmHg, book an appointment to see your Doctor.
• Alternatively, you could have it checked by a doctor or nurse at your clinic.
  • If the blood pressure reading is high, they will arrange to check it again a few times to confirm whether or not you have Hypertension.

Amend Your Lifestyle Choices

• Lifestyle choices are regular habits we adopt or practice on a day to day basis.
• To support a healthy lifestyle, we recommend the following:
  • Stop Smoking yesterday.
  • Cut down Alcohol use.
    • Sensible drinking means you avoid drinking alcohol every day or ‘binge drinking’.
  • Cut down sugary drinks.
    • They increase weight and could lead to Diabetes.
  • Reduce the amount of salt consumed in meals.
    • Too much salt or seasoning could increase the risk of high blood pressure.
  • Lose weight if necessary.
    • Aim at small weight loss goals over a long period. For instance 1kg every week.
      • This is sustainable and promotes health.
      • Excess weight increases the strain on the heart.
  • Physical exercise not only helps with weight loss but improves the overall circulation and boosts heart health.
  • Eat a healthy diet in moderation.
    • Too much oily or saturated foods should be minimized or avoided.
    • The same applies to processed foods and high carbohydrate snacks.
    • Adopt a practice for drinking plain water every day – aiming for at least 3 litres every 24 hours.

Consider Your Mental Health

• Your Mental Health is also key to a healthy heart.
  • Low mood and anxiety can be linked with chronic stress which can cause heart disease.
  • Having a good social network – a warm supportive group no matter how small can prevent feelings of isolation.
  • Knowing when to take a break and when to say ‘No’ to extra work so you can avoid burnout.
  • Seeking treatment early for mental health problems is very important.
  • Not only is it important to find out the cause when possible, getting the right treatment promptly is essential.
  • Mental health is still stigmatised in many places.
  • With support and awareness, mental health problems are gradually gaining recognition as medical conditions that require treatment.
  • Organisations like Mentally Aware (MANI) in Nigeria provide support for people with mental health issues.
  • This has helped create national discussion around treating mental health problems.

Best Practice in Pregnancy

• Pregnancy is a condition that could lead to heart disease if not properly managed.
  • Many women do experience normal, healthy pregnancy and labour.
  • But some could develop serious problems like high blood pressure in pregnancy.
  • This could lead to serious complications that could result in the death of both mum and baby.
  • So taking steps to prevent and monitor for heart problems is important.
  • One of the ways this is done is by participating in regular antenatal classes – recommended for all pregnant women.

More Reading

• Pregnancy and Your Heart – Risk of disease.
• Dealing with a HIGH risk of heart disease
• Fed Up! – When Can I Stop Taking My High Blood Pressure Drugs?
• ULTIMATE Guide: When’s The Best Time To Start a Heart Healthy Diet – And Why
• 7 Essential Lifestyle Changes in Hypertension

Editing By AskAwayHealth

Disclaimer

All AskAwayHealth articles are written by practising  Medical Practitioners on a wide range of health care conditions to provide evidence-based guidance and to help promote quality health care. The advice in our material is not meant to replace the management of your specific condition by a qualified health care practitioner.
To discuss your condition, please contact a health practitioner or reach us directly through info@askawayhealth.org

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