Valentines Day began in 400AD when a number of martyrs named Valentines dedicated their lives to passion that they loved. Over time, it has become a day of affection and symbolic for lovers to express their soul and love for someone they care for.

The Modern Day Version!

In modern times, Valentines Day has become a day of cards, chocolate, flowers, dinner dates and cosy walks. It’s all these things that makes someone you love and care about feel special.

The one theme that is common throughout with Valentines Day is the symbol of the heart. This is a sign that everyone in the world recognises as a sign of affection and love. So when you offer your heart to someone, you offer your love and life to them.

Doesn’t it then make sense to ensure you are offering a heart that is healthy and will be there for years to come.

Heart Disease

There is a lot of information about heart disease and the general public are now well educated in this area. However, it still remains one of the biggest chronic diseases in the western world and kills a lot of loved ones.

The heart is one of the strongest functional structures in the body. It beats approximately 52,000 times a day - that’s 19,000,000 times a year! Each beat needs to be perfect. Around Valentines Day, the heart is likely to beat a bit faster due to hormones, excitement, passion and, in some cases, due to fear because someone has forgotten Valentines Day!

Risk Factors

Although heart disease is associated with age, this is not always the case. I have patients with the onset of heart problems in their early 30’s. The heart is affected by a number of risk factors. The key to a healthy heart (so you can share it with your loved one) is to minimise the risk. Most of the risk factors are within your control to change – smoking, poor nutrition, lack of exercise!

If anyone is concerned or wants to know more information about health screening, click on this link:
(www.galen-health.co.uk/Galen_General_Health_Screening/Cardiac_Screening)

Pack Years

Smoking causes alterations with the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood and nutrients to help it function. The more someone smokes a day and the longer the duration (called pack years), the higher the risk of coronary heart disease.

I can’t stress how important it is to take this seriously to keep your blood flow healthy to the heart!

It is easy for a doctor to tell someone to just stop smoking. But it is not that simple. Smoking is very addictive. Aiming for a realistic and gradual reduction over a period of weeks is often a sensible approach. Be realistic – set long term goals. You wont achieve this in weeks.

There is a lot of help at hand too for those cravings – including replacement patches, nicotine gum and oral medications. Nicotine patches alter in strength as you reduce the amount you smoke. Nicotine gum has a brain cognitive effect – distracting the chewing and substituting the missing smoking activity. Oral medications can come with side effects so it is important to fully discuss this with your doctor

Nutrition

Diet, food, nutrition! How often is it drummed into you?

I am not going to go into detail about food groups, what to eat and what not to eat. You just need to look at what Ann Mather writes and take it all very seriously. What you eat is a key determinant of your health and wellbeing, and good nutrition is key to a healthy heart.

Cholesterol – The Double Edged Sword

What I want to concentrate on is Cholesterol and the effect it has. Medical evidence has shown that cholesterol levels are directly related to coronary heart disease. The heart vessels can become blocked by plaques of cholesterol. This in turn reduces blood flow to the heart muscles and causes cramp in the heart muscle.

The first sign of a problem is often an experience of pain – called angina. Overtime, this gets work involving pain during exercise as well as at risk, and can result in the fatal risk of heart attack when the blockage is so great that blood can no longer be supplied to the heart.

Cholesterol is split into Low Density Lipids (LDL), High Density Lipids (HDL) and Triglycerides. Typically, the higher your LDLs and triglycerides, the greater the risk of plaques in your blood vessels. Your blood cholesterol level is easy to determine through a simple blood test.

However, the double edged sword is that you can also have a low cholesterol profile, but still have plaques in the blood vessels.

If, by adopting a high risk lifestyle in the past, you built up plaque in your blood vessels, then even if your cholesterol profile is now reading low, you may still be at risk. If you have been in a high risk category in the past, and have angina pain, you will need further investigation and monitoring. This should include not only an ECG but also a cardiac CT scan. This is non-invasive and looks at the blood vessels of the heart to see the extent of any plaques. If plaques are found, aggressive treatment to remove them may be required. Remember, these plaques can break off and travel to the brain causing strokes.

Exercise

Famouslyfit.com is full of really great information on exercise. A healthy Valentine’s heart needs this to keep functioning well.

Cardiovascular exercise, in particular, increases the activity of the heart and has a number of beneficial effects. The first advantage is of course weight management. However, more importantly, this keeps the heart strong so that the blood pressure will be in a good range. Your heart will have to work less hard when at rest. If your blood pressure is too high, your heart is working harder when it should be relaxing and chilling on the beach! This then causes fatigue and over time can result in cardiac disease.

Raised blood pressure is a symptom that can be silent. Many people do not know that they have a problem and require treatment until something serious happens. Look out for symptoms of tiredness, breathlessness, palpitations and chest pain. But check out your blood pressure regularly to be on the safe side.

Final Prescription

My final prescription for Valentines Day:

• Wake up to a sentimental card
• Breakfast in bed with cosy cuddles.
• Take it up a notch by a walk in the park holding hands with maybe a romantic boat trip.
• Lunch should take place either high up to over look the sights or in a cosy eatery
• Off to the theatre or an art gallery
• Dinner with candles, champagne and music.
• To end with..well, you are on your own there!

Oh and don’t forget all of the above for your healthy heart ready for next Valentine’s Day!

This feature is sponsored by:

Galen Health,
Harley Street,
London.
(www.galen-health.co.uk)