The human heart is a muscle, about the size of your fist. Each day, your heart beats around 100,000 times. This continuously pumps five litres of blood around your body through a network of blood vessels, your circulatory system. This delivers oxygen and nutrients to all parts of your body to help your organs and muscles work properly. Your blood also carries away unwanted carbon dioxide and waste products.
Sometimes the heart and circulatory system don’t work like they should, and this can cause cardiovascular diseases, a heart attack or a stroke, due to a gradual build-up of fatty material (atheroma ) in the arteries around the heart and in the arteries that supply blood to your brain.
There are a range of ways to improve heart health. Maintaining a normal blood pressure is vital to heart health - about 120 (systolic ) over 80 (diastolic ). If your blood pressure is 140 over 90 or higher (or 140 over 80 if you have diabetes ) you should discuss this reading with your doctor. Many pharmacies offer free blood pressure testing and sell home blood pressure monitors.
One of the best ways to prevent cardiovascular disease is to keep your cholesterol at a healthy level. Limiting saturated fat in your diet, increased physical activity and quitting smoking help to reduce cholesterol.
Regular exercise, limiting your salt intake, managing stress and quitting smoking has a huge impact on your heart health, and therefore reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke. Adults should be active at a moderate intensity, for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Sarah in Cleary’s Pharmacy, 16 Mary Street, is available to discuss your heart health, and provides free blood pressure testing.
