The truth about heart disease
In the UK there are about 7.6 million people living with cardiovascular disease (the term for diseases that affect your heart and circulation). Here I’ll answer some common questions about cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the things we can all do to reduce our risk of developing it.
What is cardiovascular disease?
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a term for a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels (veins and arteries). Examples of CVD include:
- Coronary heart disease
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Heart valve disease
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Pulmonary embolism
Does cardiovascular disease only affect older men?
The risk of developing CVD is higher in men. Women with CVD may have worse complications. In fact, women are more likely to die of coronary heart disease than of breast cancer. Your risk of developing CVD does increase as you get older, but younger people can develop it too.
Around 49,000 people under the age of 75 die from CVD each year. So, it’s important for everybody to look after their heart.
Does cardiovascular disease run in families?
Having a close relative with CVD means you have a higher risk of developing it too. But you can also have CVD even if nobody else in your family has it. It’s also important to know that having other people in your family with CVD doesn’t mean that you’ll definitely develop it as well. There are still lots of things you can do to keep yourself as healthy as possible and reduce your risk.
What’s the best diet to keep my heart healthy?
One way to reduce your risk of developing CVD is to eat a healthy balanced diet. Eating this way may help you to reduce the amount of ‘bad’ cholesterol in your blood and increase the amount of ‘good’ (HDL) cholesterol. It can also help to lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk of diabetes.
So, try to eat a balanced diet that includes a mixture of healthy fruits and vegetables and try to limit salt and saturated fat. Also try to drink less alcohol.
What type of exercise is best for heart health?
When it comes to keeping your heart healthy, any exercise is better than none. Being more physically active can reduce your risk of developing CVD by over a third.
You don’t need to do very vigorous exercise to see the benefits. Start slowly if you don’t currently do much physical activity and aim for 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week. You can split this into 10 minute periods of exercise.
Make sure you can feel that your heart is beating faster, your breathing is quicker, and you feel warm. The most important thing is to find something you enjoy and that you can do regularly and is safe for you to do.
I use exercise to keep my heart healthy. And as a new mum, it's not always easy to fit it in. So here are my top tips.
First of all, choose something that you actually enjoy because you're much more likely to do it and get the most out of it.
Secondly, make it achievable. So I normally aim to just do 10 minutes. Whether that is stretching, yoga, a run or an online fitness class.
Because if I aim to do the first 10 minutes, then I'm likely to get to it. I'm going to be able to do it and get started.
And most of the time, if I'm able to, if I've got the time, I'll continue for 20 minutes, half an hour.
Thirdly is get family and friends involved. If you're doing it with somebody else, then you're accountable and it makes it more sociable. It makes it more fun.
And finally and I think my biggest tip is try and make it part of your normal, everyday routine.
Often we fall down because we're busy and it's difficult to find the time to fit it in.
So if it's part of your normal routine, whether that is an active commute to work or choosing to walk on the school run or just building in little bits of activity, like doing some squats, when you're boiling the kettle, these things add up, then you're much more likely to stick to it.
So that's it from me, and I hope you found that helpful.
Does smoking affect your heart?
Smoking raises your risk of developing CVD. This is because the chemicals in cigarettes can damage your arteries. This can increase your risk of a heart attack or stroke. It’s thought at least 15,000 deaths from CVD are caused by smoking every year in the UK. Smoking is one of the risk factors of cardiovascular disease that you can change.
If you smoke, the best thing to do is to go and see your GP and find a method of quitting that suits you.
Can stress affect my heart health?
Stress is a response to mental and emotional pressure and might have an effect on your heart health. Changes in your body from too much stress might lead to increased blood pressure and build up of plaque in your arteries (atherosclerosis).
Stress can also lead us to do things which aren’t good for our heart. This might be exercising less, eating a less healthy diet, drinking more alcohol, or smoking.
Try to find other ways to cope when you’re feeling stressed. Do some exercise or find something you enjoy like watching a film or having a bath. You might find it helpful to try yoga, meditation or mindfulness. If you need support with your mental health speak to your GP.
How can I check my heart health?
There are lots of ways that your doctor can help you understand your risk of developing CVD. They can look at your age, family and medical history, any medications you take and whether you smoke. They can also measure your BMI (body mass index), blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
In some parts of the UK, you’ll be offered a health check from your doctor every five years once you turn 40. If you’re younger than 40 or you live somewhere where these check-ups aren’t offered, you can still speak to a doctor about your cardiovascular health. They can support any changes you want to make to reduce your risk.
Are you interested in learning more about your health? Discover more about our range of health assessments.
-
Sources Sources
- Heart Statistics. British Heart Foundation. bhf.org.uk, published August 2024
- CVD risk assessment and management. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries. cks.nice.org.uk, last revised May 2024
- What is cardiovascular disease? World Heart Federation. world-heart-federation.org, accessed September 2024
- Women and heart disease. British Heart Foundation. bhf.org.uk, accessed September 2024
- Cardiovascular disease risk assessment and prevention. British National Formulary. bnf.nice.org.uk, accessed August 2024
- British Heart Foundation UK CVD Factsheet. British Heart Foundation. bhf.org.uk, published January 2024
- Family history. British Heart Foundation. bhf.org.uk, last reviewed December 2024
- Dyslipidemia. MSD Manuals. msdmanuals.com, reviewed May 2023
- Heart Health. British Dietetic Association. bda.uk.com, published July 2020
- Physical activity guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report. Department of Health and Social Care. gov.uk, published September 2019
- Staying active. British Heart Foundation. bhf.org.uk, last updated October 2022
- CVD risk assessment and management. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries. cks.nice.org.uk, last revised May 2024
- Smoking. British Heart Foundation. bhf.org.uk, last revised August 2023
- Vancheri F, Longo G, Vancheri E, Henein MY. Mental Stress and Cardiovascular Health-Part I. J Clin Med. 2022 Jun 10;11(12):3353. doi: 10.3390/jcm11123353
- Stress. British Heart Foundation. bhf.org.uk, last updated May 2023
- Physical assessment. British Heart Foundation. bhf.org.uk, accessed September 2024
- NHS Health Checks: applying All Our Health. Office for Health Improvement & Disparities. gov.uk, updated March 2022
About our health information
At Bupa we produce a wealth of free health information for you and your family. This is because we believe that trustworthy information is essential in helping you make better decisions about your health and wellbeing.
Our information has been awarded the PIF TICK for trustworthy health information. It also follows the principles of the The Information Standard.
Did you find our advice helpful?
We’d love to hear what you think. Our short survey takes just a few minutes to complete and helps us to keep improving our healthy lifestyle articles.
Legal disclaimer
This information was published by Bupa's Health Content Team and is based on reputable sources of medical evidence. It has been reviewed by appropriate medical or clinical professionals and deemed accurate on the date of review. Photos are only for illustrative purposes and do not reflect every presentation of a condition.
Any information about a treatment or procedure is generic, and does not necessarily describe that treatment or procedure as delivered by Bupa or its associated providers.
The information contained on this page and in any third party websites referred to on this page is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor is it intended to be for medical diagnosis or treatment. Third party websites are not owned or controlled by Bupa and any individual may be able to access and post messages on them. Bupa is not responsible for the content or availability of these third party websites. We do not accept advertising on this page.
