Mind Your Heart Health
Welcome to Our Heart Health Page
Keeping your heart healthy is one of the most important things you can do for your overall wellbeing. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of illness, but the good news is that many cases can be prevented.
This page is here to help you understand how small lifestyle changes, like eating well, staying active, and maintaining a healthy weight, can make a big difference to your heart health. Whether you’re looking to prevent problems before they start or manage an existing condition, we’re here to support you every step of the way.
What is cardiovascular disease (CVD)?
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a term used to describe a range of conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. It often develops when fatty deposits build up inside the arteries. This makes the arteries narrower and increases the risk of blood clots, which leads to heart attacks and strokes.
CVD is one of the leading causes of illness and death in the UK. However, the good news is that many forms of CVD can be prevented through healthy lifestyle choices such as staying active, eating well, not smoking and managing conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes.
Learn more about cardiovascular disease (this website contains a video resource about heart health)
What are the risk factors for CVD?
Risk factors are any conditions or habits that contribute toward increasing your risk of developing a CVD. The more you have, the higher your chance of cardiovascular disease.
Risk factors for cardiovascular disease include:
- smoking
- stress
- alcohol
- high blood pressure
- high blood cholesterol
- not being active (sedentary lifestyle)
- being overweight or obese
- diabetes
- family history of heart disease
- your ethnic background
- your sex (men are more likely to get cardiovascular disease earlier than women)
- your age (the older you are, the more likely you are to get cardiovascular disease)
Some heart and circulatory conditions are influenced by things we can’t change, like age or family history. But many risk factors can be managed through making lifestyle changes and getting the right treatment and support, which can help lower your risk and protect your heart health over time.
Lifestyle strategies for risk factor reduction
Several studies have proven that making the right lifestyle choices and following positive daily habits can profoundly lower the likelihood of developing CVD. In particular, regular physical activity, good nutritional intake, weight management and avoiding smoking cigarettes have been demonstrated to significantly reduce the risk of CVD. It’s the most reliable prevention method that helps protect you against heart and circulatory conditions.
Some lifestyle strategies include:
- Eating well – Learn more about eating mindfully and how you can manage your salt intake.
- Moving more – Learn more about exercise beneficial for heart health.
- Stopping smoking – Smoking is one of the leading causes of CVD. Learn more about how you can stop smoking.
- Limiting your alcohol intake – Read NHS Inform’s resource page on accessing help and support with alcohol.
- Managing your weight – Learn more about NHS Inform’s free online 12-week weight management programme.
- Managing stress – Learn more about stress management.
- Regularly checking your blood pressure – Sometimes, heart problems don’t come with obvious symptoms. Keep on top of your heart health by checking your blood pressure at home, attending all health reviews in a timely manner and booking an appointment with your GP for a check-up if you feel it’s needed.
