Category: Education

Some people look younger than their age, some look older. But what’s happening on the inside? How old is their heart? 

A heart age calculator asks a series of questions about smoking, family history, diabetes and weight. Then it asks about blood pressure and cholesterol readings, using average readings for a person’s age if there are no personal results available.

At the end of all that, it’ll show the heart’s approximate age. If a person’s heart is older than they are, it’s a good prompt to improve health and lifestyle with the help of a doctor. 

Like to try it?  Use the Heart Foundation Calculator here: Heart Age Calculator | Heart Foundation.org.au

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

Getting breathless very easily? Or unusually tired? 

These aren’t the inevitable result of getting older. They could be symptoms of aortic stenosis.

Aortic stenosis is an age-related condition that makes the heart valves narrow and stiff. That stops the valves opening and closing properly, meaning the heart can’t pump blood around the body effectively. Left untreated, aortic stenosis can lead to heart failure.

Because aortic stenosis may show only vague symptoms (or none at all), it’s easily missed. GPs can identify possible aortic stenosis by listening to the heart with a stethoscope but an echocardiogram is needed to be sure.

The right treatment depends on how narrow or stiff the valve has become, as well as age and general health. Regular examinations and echocardiograms may be needed to monitor the condition and provide supportive treatment. Or the valve may need to be opened, either through open heart surgery or a newer type of “keyhole” surgery called TAVI.

A cardiologist will advise you on the most suitable treatment.

Learn more about heart valve disease here:  Valvular heart disease | Connected Cardiology

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

Risky behaviour tends to make us think of activities like skydiving, speeding or substance abuse. For most of us though, our riskiest behaviour is our sedentary lifestyle. 

A sedentary lifestyle involves little physical activity – think driving to work, sitting at a desk, driving home and sitting on the sofa. A sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of many health conditions including heart disease. 

The trick to breaking out of a sedentary lifestyle is to build incidental activity into each day. Try:

• Taking the stairs not the lift
• Getting off the tram a few stops earlier and walking the rest of the way
• Using a standing desk
• Standing up for phone calls
• Meeting friends for a walk rather than at a cafe
• Using a fitness tracker or pedometer to measure daily steps
• Walking instead of driving for short journeys. 

What will you implement?

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

Ectopic heartbeats occur when the heart adds an extra beat.  

They’re actually very common. Some people don’t experience any symptoms while others may feel like their heart lurched, missed a beat or thumped with extra force. They can cause some irregularity when feeling the pulse.

Ectopic heart beats are not usually concerning unless they are happening often or causing at lot of symptoms. However, it is important that they’re properly investigated to look for any specific causes. It’s also important to have an irregular pulse assessed to rule out other causes of irregular heartbeats such as atrial fibrillation.

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

Beans and legumes do wonders for your health because they:

• are high in fibre and minerals
• are a good source of protein without the saturated fat found in animal sources
• may help improve cholesterol
• give a feeling of sustained fullness. 

Any supermarket should stock beans and legumes among the canned and dried foods. Look for lentils, black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, mung beans, lima beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans or cannellini beans.

Not sure how to use them? Beans on toast are an easy option. Other ideas include adding beans and legumes to salads, sandwich fillings, pasta dishes and soups.

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart. It’s used to assess the function and structure of the heart in a wide range of cardiac conditions. 

Doctors can learn a great deal about the heart from an echocardiogram. Among other things it can show us:

• How well the heart is pumping, by measuring left ventricular ejection fraction
• Whether there are any problems with blood flow through the coronary arteries, by measuring variability in wall motion in the left ventricle  
• Heart valve problems like stenosis (narrowed valves) or regurgitation (leaky valves)
• Problems with the right ventricle 
• Evidence of shunting (abnormal connections between chambers) or other inherited cardiac conditions.

An echocardiogram takes about half an hour. The sonographer asks the patient to lie on their left side then attaches several electrodes to monitor their heart rhythm. A probe is applied to several different positions on the chest with some ultrasound gel.  Some patients will need repeat echocardiograms to monitor their heart condition over time.

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

Running is an excellent form of cardiovascular exercise that really gets the heart pumping.  Like other forms of aerobic exercise, running helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, strengthen the heart and blood vessels and improve the flow of oxygen around the body.

One study in 2014 found that runners were 45% less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than non-runners.

How running impacts your heart health|UHealth 

Running helps to improve cardiovascular fitness, burn off calories and manage weight.

New to running? See a GP for a check-up first, especially if over 40, are overweight or have a chronic illness.

Then get a good pair of sneakers and start slowly, maybe with 30-mins of brisk walking. As time goes on, start jogging for some of those 30 minutes, then increase to a running pace.

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

Heart failure isn’t always a problem with the heart’s ability to function as a pump. Sometimes the heart can pump well but has become stiff, meaning it can’t relax and fill with blood as well as it should.

This can lead to classic symptoms of heart failure like breathlessness, difficulty lying flat due to breathlessness, weight gain and ankle swelling.

That’s known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (that is, the “pump” of the heart is preserved). This is actually a very common type of heart failure, usually at an older age – people with this form often have a history of high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity.

People living with this condition may be advised to manage fluid retention by restricting fluid intake and using diuretics as prescribed. 

Managing weight and having high blood pressure treated are important. Daily exercise is also recommended and can help to improve breathlessness.

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

High blood pressure (or hypertension) is an increase in the force of blood against the walls of the arteries in the body. High blood pressure is common but easily overlooked because it doesn’t cause obvious symptoms.

However, that increased pressure over a long period raises the risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, enlargement of the aorta and heart failure.

Concerned about high blood pressure? Here’s what to do:
– Get it checked regularly by a GP
– Eat a healthy diet, low in salt
– Exercise regularly
– Drink less alcohol
– Take your blood pressure medication regularly

Some people find their blood pressure is still high and hard to manage despite doing all the right things. If BP readings vary a lot or remain high when taking several medications, a specialist review can be beneficial.

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.

How can mindfulness help after a heart attack?

Research presented at the European Society of Cardiology shows that 15 minutes a day of mindfulness meditation improves the quality of life and reduces fear of movement in people who’ve experienced a heart attack.

Mindfulness can take a number of forms, and helps to focus awareness on being in the present moment and acknowledging and accepting current thoughts and feelings. The psychological benefits of meditation have been recognised for a long time.

There’s an increasing awareness that experiencing a heart attack has both physical and emotional consequences. That’s why cardiac rehabilitation programs are beginning to incorporate mindfulness alongside physical exercises.

The British Heart Foundation has developed a 6-minute mindfulness and meditation exercise if you would like to try it:

Meditation, mindfulness, and heart disease | BHF

This article is for reference purposes only – it is not designed to be, nor should it be regarded, as professional medical advice. Please consult your own medical practitioner for health advice specific to your condition.