THE heart is an amazing organ. It beats an average 72 times per minute and will continue beating approximately 2.5 billion times during an average lifespan of 66-years.
It ensures 11 other major organ systems in your body receive sufficient amounts of oxygenated blood while de-oxygenated blood is pumped back to your heart.
Your heart works tirelessly. So help it by preventing it from having to work harder unnecessarily. An irregular accumulation of fatty materials such as cholesterol on the artery lining is one of the factors that may cause the heart to overwork.
This fatty accumulation may be due to an unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle and smoking. The accumulation thickens the artery walls, developing a condition called atherosclerosis.
The heart beats harder and eventually causes the arteries to constantly expand and contract with each heartbeat. Heart disease and stroke may also result from the narrowing and hardening of blood vessels due to fatty acid accumulation.
Cardiovascular disease is a term that covers a wide range of heart and circulatory disorders. They can include coronary artery disease (narrowing of the arteries), myocardial infarction (heart attack) and heart failure.
A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart muscles is blocked and a part becomes damaged. The damaged area causes scarring in the heart muscle, making the heart unable to pump the blood efficiently.
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| Adequate sleep is important to remain relaxed and cool |
Risk factors for heart disease are diverse. Some of the risks include ageing or having a family history of heart disease. However, there are also other risk factors such as high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, excess weight, diabetes and physical inactivity.
The good news is you can tackle most of these cardiovascular disease risk factors and safeguard your heart.
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| Eating good, fresh food helps maintain heart health |
Lead a healthy lifestyle and your heart will function well. Here are five things you can do to maintain a healthy heart:
1. EAT HEALTHY FOOD
Eat colourful, low-fat meals. An assortment of vegetables and fruit gives a variety of vitamins and minerals essential for your body and heart.
Other foods that benefit the heart include fibre-rich whole foods, unprocessed carbohydrate-rich food and fish. Corn, kidney beans, chickpeas, brown rice, lentils, almonds and barley give not only the essential energy that your body requires, but they also boost dietary fibre which then lowers the cholesterol level in the body.
Fish oil is rich with heart-protecting eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that help reduce irregular heartbeats and lower triglycerides level in the blood.
Dark chocolate is tasty and is also good for the heart. Cathecin, a natural antioxidant found in dark chocolate, is good for your heart because it can lower blood pressure and improve moods.
2. EXERCISE REGULARLY
Take your partner or your family for a 30-minute walk in the evening, at least five days a week. It need not be hard toil in the gym.
Brisk walking, jogging and bike riding are great ways to keep your heart healthy and help you maintain a healthy body weight.
3. TOBACCO FREE
Smoking is bad for your health. You are at advantage if you are a non-smoker. If you are a smoker, it is wise to cut down or stop smoking completely.
Quitting smoking reduces the risk of recurrent heart attacks and heart disease-associated deaths by 50 per cent or more after just one year.
4. STAY CALM AND COOL
While it is impossible to lead a stress-free life, reducing stress is just as important as a healthy diet and getting enough exercise.
Figure out the causes of your stress, face the issues, and look for appropriate solutions. Never be shy to ask for help.
The feeling of hopelessness, guilt, persistent sadness, and worthlessness are just some of the symptoms of depression. If you sense the onset of depression, regular exercise may ease your symptoms.
Research has shown that depressed individuals who exercised regularly had 60 per cent lower mortality rate associated with heart failure.
Having enough sleep is also important to stay relaxed. How much you need varies from individual to individual. On average, an adult needs between seven and eight hours of sleep a night.
5. SCREENING
Blood tests for lipoprotein profiling tell you exactly the levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglycerides in your blood. You need to know your numbers as these are essential for you to monitor and make sure your lipoprotein profile is within the healthy range.
Hard fat facts
Lipoprotein type and desirable or ideal level
Total cholesterol <200 mg/dL
HDL > 60mg/dL
LDL < 10 mg/dL
Triglyceride < 150 mg/dL
Article written by Nurulhafizah Samsudin, Molecular Research Scientist
Published in New Straits Times, 25th September 2012
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