Anyone who’s ever had any kind of medical procedure done – or has just watched a medical drama on TV – knows the importance of checking your heart rate. It’s meant to beat somewhere between 70 and 75 times a minute; if it’s too fast, or too slow, or it’s not quite regular, it could …
We all know that cholesterol is dependent on what we eat, with a bit of how we exercise and maybe some genetics thrown in. Doctors are normally pretty clear when they’re telling us our cholesterol is too high and the steps we need to take to lower it, and therefore protect our heart health. So, …
We sometimes talk about cardiovascular disease like it’s just one thing, a singular condition affecting our heart and blood vessels. In fact, it’s actually a whole class of diseases that, although they have a lot in common, show up in slightly different ways. They do have similar causes and risk factors, so preventative measures for …
What’s your heart doing at the moment? Do you know? Well, presumably it’s still beating or you wouldn’t be able to sit there reading, but what’s your current heart rate? It can change depending on a whole host of factors, from whether you’ve just finished some intense exercise to if you have a health problem. …
We talk a lot about the many things that can go wrong with the heart. This is important because cardiovascular problems are a leading cause of death for Americans. Sometimes we talk about the things that keep the heart working properly, but perhaps it’s now time to talk about what a healthy heart looks like. …
You probably know many of the risk factors that damage your heart health. Smoking, poor diet and not exercising enough are all things we’re told about regularly. One potential danger that isn’t as obvious but has been the subject of quite a bit of research is the harm that loneliness can cause. Some scientists have …
We all know that smoking is bad. That has been one of the most pervasive health messages of recent years, and it seems to be sinking in. The number of people who smoke has gone down dramatically, but it’s still one of the main preventable causes of death across the globe. Therefore, it can’t hurt …
It seems to be a generally accepted fact that the older we become, the worse our health gets. That’s true for the heart as much as it is anything. People over 65 in particular are at much higher risk of strokes, heart attacks and heart disease. But why exactly is that? And if you can’t …
It’s a worrying thought that despite all we know about heart health, heart disease remains one of the biggest killers in the U.S. That’s true for men and for women. Does it include you? When we talk about heart healthy living, we mean both understanding your own specific risk factors and doing whatever you can …
You probably know by now that eating a balanced, healthy diet is one of the best ways to look after your heart. When it comes to dietary recommendations, however, they often focus on mainstream American food habits. What if your preferred diet is Asian, Caribbean, or from elsewhere in the world? How can you modify …
