February is Heart Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about heart health and the importance of taking care of our hearts. Heart diseases, also known as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), are the number one cause of death around the world. That's why it's so important that we educate ourselves on the steps we can take to reduce our risk of developing heart disease and improve our overall heart health. And, of course, February is also famously known for being the season of love – and that also includes self-love and self-care…
Embracing a healthy lifestyle
At John Bell & Croyden, we're passionate about helping our patients maintain their overall health and wellbeing, and that includes their heart health. Embracing a healthy lifestyle – combining a healthy diet with regular exercise – is hugely important to prevent heart disease. Regular exercise helps your heart and blood circulatory system function more efficiently, thus lowering your cholesterol level, and keeping your blood pressure at a healthy level.
Know the condition of your heart
Chronic high blood pressure is known to put strain on your heart, making it harder for it to pump your blood around your body. But high blood pressure rarely has initial noticeable symptoms. If untreated, it can increase your risk of serious problems such as heart attacks and strokes. It’s estimated that around a third of adults in the UK (around 16 million) have high blood pressure, although many will not realise it. The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to have a blood pressure test.
Having high blood pressure can also increase the risk of another type of heart condition called atrial fibrillation (AF), which causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. Around 1.2 million people in the UK have a type of irregular heartbeat. Having AF means that blood clots are more likely to form in your heart, which get pumped into your blood supply. These clots can block the arteries in your brain, causing a stroke. Overall, AF can increase your risk of stroke by five times.
About 1 in 4 middle-aged adults (aged 40-69) will develop AF. Treatment as well as taking steps to improving your lifestyle is important to prevent the risks – if untreated AF can not only increase the risk of stroke, but also the risks of heart failure and other heart-related problems. During an episode of AF, your heart rate will be irregular and can have over 100 beats per minute.
Assessing your pulse can therefore give you a good indication of whether you have atrial fibrillation, which initially also is often fully asymptomatic, early detection by self monitoring at home can prevent serious cardiovascular events and reduce the number of death’s caused by it. However a full medical investigation is needed before a diagnosis can be confirmed. This is usually carried out in a hospital or GP surgery.
Monitor your blood pressure frequently
You can also easily and comfortably do at-home blood pressure and ECG monitoring using an at-home blood pressure monitor such as the OMRON complete (ECG) - a quick and painless test that measures the electrical activity of the heart. Simple to use, it’s designed to give you a more complete picture of your general heart health, screening for a range of heart conditions, including: heart rhythm irregularities (AFib, tachycardia, bradycardia), hypertension & hypotension, normal sinus rhythm. It offers easy, accurate and instant results, allowing you to track progress, making regular monitoring part of your daily routine.