Keep your heart healthy

Date published: 03 February 2012

People are being reminded to keep their heart healthy as part of National Heart Month.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is preventable but it still kills more than 110,000 people in England every year. Although on the decrease, more people from Bury still die early from heart disease or stroke than the UK average.

Bury’s community cardiac team works with patients who have suffered a heart attack to help them recover and live a normal healthy life again.

You are more likely to have a heart attack if you are overweight or obese, have high blood pressure or cholesterol, or you smoke,” said Nicky Patel, Community Cardiac Service Manager at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.

“Sadly, more and more people are leading an unhealthy lifestyle, which increases the risk of having a heart attack, but there are lots of things you can do to keep your heart healthy, even if you’ve had problems in the past.”

“The key to keeping your heart healthy is to lead a healthy and active lifestyle by not smoking, having a healthy weight and having low blood pressure and cholesterol. We know that some people find it difficult to do some of these things and so we are able to provide advice and support so that you can make some healthy lifestyle changes.”

If you are worried about your heart health, speak to your GP who will be able to advise on which services can help in your area.