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Looking after your heart

Published by Bupa's health information team, March 2009.

This factsheet is for people who are concerned about heart problems and would like information about how to look after their heart.

The heart is designed to last a lifetime, but the way you lead your life - what you eat, your activity levels and how you spend your leisure time - can help prevent heart disease and premature death.

Animation - How the heart works
About heart disease
Coronary heart disease
Physical activity
Stopping smoking
Moderate drinking
Healthy eating
Maintaining a healthy weight
Reducing your cholesterol levels
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Questions and answers
Related topics
Related Bupa products and services
Further information
Sources

How the heart works

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About heart disease

Heart disease is a term that covers a variety of conditions that affect the performance of your heart. The most common problem is coronary heart disease (CHD), also known as ischaemic (pronounced "i-scheme-ik") heart disease or coronary artery disease.

In the UK, heart disease kills more people - both men and women - than any other disease.

There are some risk factors for heart disease that you can do nothing about, such as your age. As you get older your arteries naturally become less elastic, leading to an increased risk of high blood pressure. You're also more at risk if you have a family history of CHD, diabetes or high cholesterol (hypercholesterolaemia).

If you carry fat around your waist ("apple" shape), you're more at risk from heart attacks than if you carry it on your hips ("pear" shape). If one or both of your parents have an apple rather than a pear shape, it's worth paying more attention to your exercise level and diet.

Coronary heart disease

CHD is usually caused by the build-up of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries - the vessels that supply blood to your heart. This causes them to narrow, making it harder for blood to reach your heart.

If you have CHD you may have:

angina - chest pain caused by poor supply of blood to the heart muscle
arrhythmia - a disturbance of the normal rhythm of the heart
a heart attack - when a coronary artery becomes completely blocked, part of the heart muscle is starved of oxygen and can be permanently damaged

Illustration showing a coronary artery affected by arthrosclerosis
A coronary artery affected by atherosclerosis

Physical activity

Taking regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your heart. If you do 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on five or more days of the week, you can halve your chance of developing heart disease. If you have a busy schedule, you can break up the recommended 30 minutes into several shorter sessions - it's the total time per day that you exercise that counts.

In addition to its effect on your heart and circulation, exercise can also:

help you improve your balance of high-density lipoprotein (HDL - "good") and low-density lipoprotein (LDL - "bad") cholesterol
help you to sleep better
provide you with a feeling of well-being
strengthen your bones

If you're active you can also eat more without having to worry so much about your weight. This is because you burn more calories and have a higher resting metabolic rate.

What's moderate intensity?

Moderate-intensity physical activity makes you feel warm and slightly out of breath but you can still talk. It helps your heart to become stronger, so that it can pump more blood around your body with less effort.

Physical activity and your lifestyle

You can benefit from physical activity at any age. But it's important to build up your activity levels gradually - if you're not used to rigorous activity it can be harmful. Also, find activities you enjoy and can do safely and conveniently.

There are a wide range of options, including brisk walking, cycling, dancing, swimming or going to the gym. The more vigorous the exercise, the more you can reduce your risk of heart disease. Your activity doesn't have to be a sport - try gardening (for example, raking leaves or mowing the lawn) or just taking the stairs instead of the lift. Walk instead of driving or taking the bus. They all count.

Building activity into your daily routine can prevent it becoming a chore. Choosing an activity that you enjoy can be one of the most pleasurable ways to look after your health.

There are very few medical reasons not to be physically active, but check with your GP before starting an exercise programme if you're in doubt. The risk of doing yourself any harm is very low if you start gently. Always build up how often you do the activity (the frequency) before you increase how hard you work during a session (the intensity).

Stopping smoking

Giving up smoking not only reduces your risk of developing heart disease, but also reduces the risk of many other serious illnesses, like cancer and emphysema.

Whatever your age, it's never too late to stop smoking. As soon as you do, your health will improve. Five years after giving up, your risk of developing heart disease will fall to a similar level as someone who has never smoked.

Giving up smoking isn't easy and it may take several attempts before you succeed. As exposure to passive smoking (inhaling smoke from nearby smokers) may also increase your risk of heart disease, you should try to prevent your exposure to this.

Moderate drinking

Moderate consumption of alcohol (between one and two units of alcohol a day) may help to reduce the risk of ischaemic heart disease in men over the age of 40 and women after the menopause. But we know that people who drink heavily are more likely to die of heart disease than those who don't. So, if you drink, do so in moderation.

A safe limit of alcohol for men is no more than three to four units of alcohol per day, and for women, no more than two to three units per day.

Having alcohol-free days is beneficial to your health, but binge drinking isn't. What is important is the amount of alcohol you drink on each day. If you haven't had any alcohol during the week, don't assume it's safe to drink 21 units (for men) or 14 units (for women) at the weekend.

The list below shows the number of units of alcohol in various drinks.

A pint of ordinary strength lager or bitter contains around two units.
A pint of ordinary strength cider contains around two units.
A 175ml (standard) glass of red or white wine contains around two units.
A pub measure of spirits contains around one unit.
An alcopop contains around one and a half units.

Try and be aware of the number of units that you drink. Some drinks may be stronger than you think. The labels of many bottled and canned drinks will tell you the number of units they contain.

Healthy eating

Eating healthily can help you prevent heart disease. Change to a low-fat, low-salt diet that includes plenty of fruit and vegetables. Remember that a healthy diet will include all the food categories.

Choose healthy cooking methods (grill, bake, steam or microwave instead of frying), trim fat off meat and remove skin from chicken. Eating more fish may help to reduce your intake of fat.

Maintaining a healthy weight

Being overweight increases your chances of developing heart disease. Your GP will be able to advise if you need to lose excess weight. To lose excess weight you will probably need to follow an exercise programme, as well as eating healthily.

Reducing your cholesterol levels

Reducing cholesterol levels in your blood can help you prevent heart disease. Eat a healthy, low-fat diet. Even if you already eat healthily, you may still have high cholesterol levels, particularly if other members of your family have high levels. As a last resort, medicines can be used to reduce high cholesterol and slow or even partially reverse the progress of heart disease.

Diabetes

If you have diabetes (type 1 or type 2), this puts you at a much higher risk of developing heart disease. You're also more likely to have high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. Diabetes can also increase the effect of other risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking and being overweight.

If you have diabetes, it's important to make sure you control your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, to minimise your risk of developing heart disease.

High blood pressure

High blood pressure (hypertension) increases your chances of developing heart disease. There are usually no symptoms of high blood pressure, so you may not be aware you have it. If you're middle-aged or older and have normal blood pressure, you should have your blood pressure checked every five years. If you have high blood pressure, you should have it checked more frequently. Your GP will be able to advise you on how often it should be measured.