Guide to Heart Disease

Heart attacks kill an increasing number of people every year. One in three middle aged men today dies of a heart attack and the victims are getting younger and younger.

What to do
1. Stop smoking. If you smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day, you double your chance of having a heart attack.
2. Have your blood pressure checked by your doctor and keep to his treatment if it is high.
3. Cut down on fatty meat; use soft margarine instead of butter; use corn or sunflower oil for cooking; avoid cream; eat fewer than 3 eggs per week; cut down on pastries, cakes and biscuits; eat more fruit and vegetables; and eat wholemeal bread and wholemeal flour products. The advice here on cutting down on cholesterol-rich foods is currently under scrutiny, but it will do no harm to reduce cholesterol-containing foods. Do not cut them our altogether though.
4. Get your weight down to what your doctor suggests. Start by cutting your sugar intake by half and eventually cutting it out altogether. This alone will reduce your weight surprisingly quickly.
5. Sedentary people have 3 times the chance of having a heart attack than active ones, so take regular exercise. Active people have 3 times the chance of surviving their first heart attack compared with inactive ones. Walk or jog regularly (2-3 times per week) in such a way as to raise your pulse to 120 beats per minute or more. Anything less than this cannot be considered to be ‘protective’ exercise. Having said this, take care not to exercise too much too soon, but work it up gradually.
6. Stress, especially in the presence of other risk factors, can be an important trigger. Avoiding stress can be difficult, but it is worth trying to steer clear of the things that upset you or cause tension at work.

Remember A heart attack does not just happen to other people — it could happen to you.

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