Heart attacks are often regarded as a man’s disease, but coronary heart disease – the build-up of plaque in the arteries which deliver blood to the heart – is the main cause of heart attacks and kills more than twice as many women as breast cancer in the UK every year, according to the British Heart Foundation.
Research also suggests that survival rates are lower for women than for men.
Here, Dr Vinit Sawhney, a consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist at the Harley Street Clinic, part of HCA Healthcare UK, and St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, explains what she does to reduce her risk of having a heart attack.
Never skip breakfast
I’m a full-time cardiologist with three young kids at home so life can get really busy, and I could easily run out of the door and say I didn’t have time for breakfast. But I make a conscious effort to have it.
I focus on avoiding saturated fat and foods high in cholesterol, because they contribute to the build-up of plaque in your arteries, and if some of this breaks off it could cause an obstruction in the artery supplying blood to the heart, which results in a heart attack. You don’t want to have any limitations in the flow of blood within the heart arteries.
With that in mind, my breakfast is usually either oats and bananas or boiled eggs with avocado. If you miss breakfast, you miss a major meal, and from my experience if I skip breakfast, I’ll end up having two cappuccinos with a load of biscuits because I need sugar and caffeine to run on, which are not the best choice. If you take a moment to have your breakfast, and have the right things, it might stop you snacking on the wrong things during the day.
Meditate daily
Every morning, I wake up before the children to make sure I can meditate for 15 minutes while the house is quiet. It helps me to organise my thoughts and emotions for the rest of the day and helps me to deal with any surprises the day might bring.
Living in London, all you see is people running around. While it might seem unusual, it’s good to stop and pause for a bit. De-stressing is easier said than done but stress is a silent killer, and we don’t appreciate how much it affects us. It builds up your blood pressure and increases levels of the hormone cortisol which is known to be bad for the heart.
Prolonged high amounts of cortisol causes your heart rate to increase, sends your blood sugars up and your blood pressure to rise – this can lead to narrowing of your heart arteries – and all of these things are bad for your general cardiovascular health, including heart attack risk.
Cook with olive oil
I am of British Indian heritage, and cooking is a big part of my culture. Indian cooking can be very rich at times and typically involves fried foods and using a lot of salt. So, when I need to fry something, which is inevitably part of most Indian cooking, I don’t use saturated fats such as butter as we know how bad they are for heart health and swap them for olive oil instead.
I try to reduce salt and replace it with spices and herbs as much as possible. If you consume too much salt, it increases the risk of high blood pressure, which is bad for your heart. Additionally, I try to add leafy green vegetables, protein and whole grains into my diet as they are low in saturated fats and anti-inflammatory foods, as chronic inflammation can damage blood vessels, inflame heart tissue and promotes the plaque build-up inside the arteries.
Walk to work
For good heart health we need to do some aerobic exercise (anything that gets you sweaty, your heart rate up, or out of breath) combined with resistance training, such as lifting weights. This helps the efficiency of the heart and vessels of the vascular system, making them able to pump blood better.
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Exercising regularly reduces the risk of high blood pressure (which is a risk factor for heart attacks because it can cause the heart muscle to thicken), it lowers your resting heart rate and indirectly lowers the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
You might not have time to head to the gym, but it’s really important to go on that long walk, or that small run or that little bit of gardening – it all helps.
I did my medical school training in the army, where we had a very fixed exercise routine, but with a young family it’s much harder to have a regimented plan. I make sure I always get off the train early to walk some of the way to work, and I certainly do at least a mile every day by walking to and from work.
At the weekend I go for a run, and being at home with the kids means I’m very active – from running up and down the stairs to playing badminton and going cycling with my older boy. It’s important to spread exercise out through the week rather than exhausting yourself once a week with two hours of solid exercise, as this will improve your general level of fitness.
Check your BMI
I make sure my body mass index (BMI) is within a healthy range, which is considered anywhere between 19 and 25. There have been times when I’ve had to make a particularly conscious effort through diet and exercise to achieve this, for example after having my twin babies around a year ago.
Being overweight with a high BMI is directly linked to an increased risk of having a heart attack, a stroke and heart failure. This again relates to poor diet and plaque building up in the heart arteries, putting you at risk of a clot, dislodgment, leading to heart attacks. A higher level of fat cells in the body makes our muscles work harder and causes high inflammation, which leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, which are all major risk factors for heart attack.
Then, due to malnutrition, people who are underweight with a low BMI potentially have a weakened heart muscle or depleted levels of electrolytes, and this can result in poor circulation which again increases the risk of heart rhythm issues and overall poor cardiovascular health.
Limit alcohol intake
I don’t drink at all other than the odd glass at a wedding or at Christmas time, but if you do, it’s important to stick to the recommended limits for alcohol intake, which is 14 units each week. It can help to have set days in the week when you can have a drink or have smaller glasses to ensure you don’t exceed this limit.
Over time if you drink more than this it can weaken the heart muscle, and there is a risk this can lead to heart failure. But not drinking will always be the healthiest choice. Remember that alcohol can also be high in calories and saturated fats, which can affect your arteries.
Avoid smoking at all costs
I’ve never smoked and I couldn’t say even a small amount of smoking is okay. Chemicals within cigarettes such as nicotine can again lead to the fatty build-up within the heart’s vessels, which increases the risk of heart attacks.
Smoking is also related to high blood pressure, and it can weaken the heart muscle, and there are other cancer risks associated with smoking too, so it’s not a good idea at all.
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