Healthy Fitness features

TLC for the heart isn't just about chocolates and flowers on Valentine's Day but a series of lifelong lifestyle choices, says GP Dr Martin Bell.

Valentine's Day is here again but February is also National Heart Month, which sees the launch of a major awareness drive to encourage more of us to take better care of that all-important organ.

More than190,000 people in the UK die from heart disease every year - it's Britain's biggest killer but the risks are often underestimated.

Heart disease is caused by a furring up of the arteries with fatty deposits, a process known as atherosclerosis. This leads to narrowing arteries, which eventually stops enough oxygen reaching the heart, causing chest pain (angina). If the artery becomes blocked with a clot, this can result in a heart attack.

But heart disease doesn't just creep up on us overnight - it's the accumulation of unhealthy lifestyle choices made over many decades, including:

• too much saturated fat
• weight gain
• smoking
• high blood pressure
• raised cholesterol
• not enough exercise
• diabetes

It's never too early to start thinking about your heart health though, so here's a step-by-step guide to keeping your heart healthy - at each stage of your life.

These are the decades when it's vital to adopt healthy lifestyle habits.

• Eat a healthy low fat diet: Include at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, fibre-rich complex carbohydrates (wholemeal bread, pasta and rice), lean protein, low fat dairy products and at least two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily.
  
  Avoid too much saturated fat (found in red meat, sausages, etc. and processed foods) and cut down on salt and sugar levels in processed foods and takeaways.
• Exercise regularly: Physically active people are half as likely to get cardiovascular disease as those who are inactive.
  
  Exercise helps reduce your blood pressure, work your heart muscle and raise levels of 'good' HDL cholesterol, which protects your arteries against disease and also helps you control your weight. Aim for at least 30 minutes of brisk exercise/activity five times a week.
• Give up smoking: Smoking is the biggest contributory factor to narrowing or 'furring up' of the arteries and, if this involves the arteries to the muscles of the heart, this can result in either angina (chest pain on exercise) or a heart attack. Ask your GP for support in quitting.
• Check your family history: If a close family member has suffered a heart attack or stroke at a young age, you may be at higher risk of heart disease, so see your GP for a cholesterol test.
• Be aware of ethnic risks: South Asian people living in the UK are one and half times more likely to die from coronary heart disease before the age of 75 than people from other ethnic backgrounds, so they need to see their GP for check-ups earlier than most.

• Follow the healthy lifestyle habits mentioned above.
• Get a heart check-up: The British Heart Foundation recommends everyone aged 40 to 60 should have a heart health check-up to measure and assess risk factors for developing heart disease, including blood pressure, weight, blood glucose levels, cholesterol levels, etc. Book one with your GP or practice nurse.
• Measure your waist: A waist measurement of more than 37 inches (94cm) for a man and 32 inches (80cm) for a woman puts you at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, which greatly increases your chances of developing heart disease. Some studies suggest eating foods with a low glycaemic index, which release energy slowly, may help patients lose weight around their middle.
• Keep exercising: Exercising in middle age increases your life expectancy by two years (equivalent to giving up smoking). Aim for five sessions a week of at least 30 minutes.
• Have a post-menopause check: Women are protected against heart disease by the female sex hormone oestrogen but, as this ends with the menopause, it's important to have regular check-ups in your 50s.

Your age puts you at higher risk of heart disease now, so regular check-ups are even more important.

• Stick to the lifestyle advice above.
• Get your blood pressure checked at least annually, more often if you have raised levels. If you're over 60, there is a 50 per cent chance you have high blood pressure, rising to 60 per cent by age 70 and over 70 per cent by the age of 75. It's the second biggest risk factor for heart disease after smoking. Cutting down on salt is the easiest way to reduce blood pressure, but you may also need medication including beta blockers or ACE inhibitors.
• Take cholesterol-lowering drugs: If your cholesterol levels are above 5 millimoles per litre of blood, you may be prescribed a statin to lower your levels. Following the Portfolio Diet, which is rich in almonds, oats and soya, can also help reduce your cholesterol, as can taking regular exercise.
• Control diabetes: Diabetes raises the risk of your arteries becoming blocked by atheroma (furring up inside the artery).

Reduce the effect by keeping your blood sugar levels within normal levels with prescribed medication and/or insulin, and maintaining a normal weight.

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Keeping your heart healthy
Regular exercise has a host of benefits, including keeping your heart healthy and strong. If you're keen to exercise more, personal trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read has developed a set of heart-friendly exercise plans suitable for different age groups.

Skate your way to a healthier you!
Ice sports are a popular form of exercise and a great way of getting fit - and they're not just for winter. If you're interested in giving ice sports a go, Dr Alasdair R Wright, GP and sports medicine doctor, has some tips.

Get out and about to boost your circulation
Research shows that exercise has a crucial part to play in reducing stress and improving mental wellbeing. However, if time is limited, personal fitness trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read has put together a 15 minute power workout which you can do at home or at work.

Exercise to help reduce stress
Research shows that exercise has a crucial part to play in reducing stress and improving mental wellbeing. However, if time is limited, personal fitness trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read has put together a 15 minute power workout which you can do at home or at work.

Give yourself a boost
At this time of year, we're bombarded with advice about how to keep fit and well during the autumn and winter months. There's much we can do to keep infections at bay

Exercise to boost your immune system
Exercise has a positive effect on your health and fitness in so many ways. Regular exercise can even boost your immune system and reduce the risk of illness, as Dr Alasdair R Wright, GP and sports medicine doctor, reveals

Fight fatigue with a 3-minute workout!
Next time you feel fatigued and in need of a re-energiser, don't reach for a caffeine-packed espresso shot; instead, try personal trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read's fight-the-fatigue mini-workout: it will help recharge your batteries, wherever you are!

Exercises for better skin
Most teenagers are affected to some extent by acne, a skin condition caused by changes in hormones. As exercise is thought to have a beneficial effect on acne, Dr Alasdair Wright looks at what types may offer the best results.

Getting fit with ball games
With the World Cup to motivate us, it's a great time to get fit at home with some simple exercises that need no equipment other than a ball. So whether it's a golf ball, tennis ball or beach ball, personal coach Lucy Wyndham-Read has an exercise to suit all ages

Watch your back! Tips and exercises to help prevent problems
Low back pain will affect most people at some stage in their life and is one of the commonest causes of days lost from work. Alasdair R Wright, GP and sports medicine doctor, offers tips on reducing the risk of back injury, as well as some effective back-strengthening exercises

Prepare for summer: spring clean your medicine cabinet!
Before we're beset with the bites, stings, cuts and grazes that typically accompany outdoor activities, it's sensible to review the contents of the family medicine cabinet. GP Martin Bell offers advice on what to keep close to hand this summer

Simple exercises for healthy bones!
Bone health and risk of developing the degenerative bone disease osteoporosis are affected by age and lifestyle, as well as genes. Fortunately, it's never too late to start doing exercises that can help strengthen bone mass and density, says personal trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read.

'Let's Get Moving' to reduce bowel cancer risk
April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and the 2010 campaign is encouraging us to 'get moving' to reduce our risk of developing the disease. But what else can we do to maintain a healthy bowel and digestive system?

Exercises for a fitter digestive system!
To tie in with Bowel Cancer Awareness Month's 'Let's Get Moving' theme, personal fitness coach Lucy Wyndham-Read looks at what type of exercises are good (or bad) for our digestive system, and suggests a special new routine to try

Looking for an exciting new fitness challenge? Try triathlon!
The multisport triathlon is an increasingly popular choice for people of all ages and ability levels seeking an adventurous, fun and challenging way to keep fit. Personal trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read explains how to get started...

Scaling new heights of fitness!
Rock climbing requires more than having a good head for heights: it's an adventurous and challenging sport that gives you a full body workout. Personal trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read explores the fitness benefits...

All for one and one for all! The benefits of exercising in groups
Personal fitness coach Lucy-Wyndham-Read looks at the motivational, fitness and social benefits of training in groups, and offers tips to help get you started...

Invest in your future well-being with a health 'MOT'
We know that prevention is better than cure, yet many of us pay more attention to the condition of our car than our body! However, an annual lifestyle review can pay big dividends in terms of our future health, says Dr Alasdair R Wright.

A vision of good eye health...
Regular eye checks and a healthy lifestyle go hand in hand with healthy eyes, yet too often we overlook the health of our eyes until we start to experience vision problems. So what should we be doing to protect our eyes? Optometrist Karen Sparrow has some tips...

Winter warm-ups for safer exercising
When the temperature drops, it is important to warm up properly before exercising to help prevent injuries and increase flexibility, says personal trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read.

Have fun keeping active this winter!
Once winter sets in, it's tempting to toss the trainers in a cupboard and hibernate til spring. But as well as keeping you healthy, exercising on colder days can be invigorating and fun, says fitness coach Lucy Wyndham-Read.

Partner training
Sometimes keeping a consistent exercise routine can be hard work, it can be easy for training schedules to slip and other life activities to get in the way or be an excuse not to work out.

ACTIVITY TIPS
Activity tips

Expanding our health and fitness horizons
When we think of exercising today we generally think of western sports and games, football and rugby, tennis and swimming or just going to the local gym.We can broaden our exercise horizons so much by looking at different ethnic ways to stay fit and in good health. Have you ever thought about learning a different type of dance for example as a way to tone up?

All dive in for the Great North Swim!
The Great North Swim has proved hugely popular since its launch last year, with 5,000 entrants anticipated in 2009. If you're not among them, there are plenty of other incentives to get active through swimming — and even train for the next Great Swim!

Health and fitness tips for September
Health and fitness tips for September

QUARTER HOUR POWER
If you’re daunted by the task of starting a new diet or exercise routine, are easily distracted or find it hard to focus then taking the Quarter Hour Power approach – a new method for tailoring healthy living activities to your attention span – could be the perfect solution.

Retro Fun
The summer holidays give us so much more family time for fun and games.

Why not break the norm this summer? Try some different activities that may take you back to your childhood and summon a few laughs as well.

The great outdoors
Bored of your workouts in the gym or at home? Do you feel like you want more of a challenge whilst training and having fun?

Advice and tips to keep safe and stay healthy if you are going abroad this year
A number of things can help you get the most from your travel to hot countries. It is most important to stay cool and hydrated. Take lots of water with you ? don't rely on it being readily available. Only drink bottled water.

Health and fitness tips
Join that Pilate's class you've been thinking about. It's an excellent way to achieve a strong core, helps you to relax and make you more body aware..

Calling all parents!
It's coming up to the time of year many parents dread - the summer holidays!

Crank it up
The summer is finally here and the motivation to look and feel good seems more heightened. Holidays are approaching and the sense of having more time over weekends due to more light is now apparent, so how can we make the most of our time to exercise, have fun and spend quality time with our families? The thing that gets you about cycling is the amount of ground you can cover, all the sights you can see in just one workout can be so beautiful that longer times in the saddle can just fly by.

Health and fitness tips
Ditch the alcohol for one month, a pre-holiday cleanse! Notice how much more alert you feel alcohol can leave us having to burn off dead calories!

Swimming with the fitness tide
National initiatives such as Learn to Swim and Free Swimming are encouraging more people of all ages to start visiting their local pool. Personal trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read has some great workouts for you to try once you’ve taken the plunge…

Healthy lifestyle tips
Healthy lifestyle tips

Training with Weights - Celina Harding and Jason Anderson
When we think of weight-training, we automatically think of the local gym with lots of heavy equipment and burly men grunting their way through a workout.

Change 4 your Life?
Britain is heading towards an obesity epidemic, warn health officials, and only a ‘lifestyle revolution’ can reverse the trend. So will Change4Life be the campaign that finally persuades us to improve our diet and get more active?

Putting the fun into family fitness
Change4Life recommends 60 active minutes a day for every child but, as many parents know, persuading kids to exercise can be a challenge. Personal trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read has some fun games to get youngsters moving…

The wonders of the Heart (and how to look after it)
The heart is an amazing organ. It is really a specially designed muscle about the size of a fist and weighing about 250 grams that is divided into four chambers and which acts as an almost never-ending pump, pushing blood around our bodies.

Flagging running programme? Set some goals..
Lots of runners find that setting new goals fires up flagging fitness plans. It redefines what you want to get from your running, reminds you why you're dragging yourself through the park on yet another rainy Sunday, and breaks even marathons and ultra events into achievable steps of improvement.

Survival tips for marathon runners!
If you’re one of the brave souls running in this year's London Marathon, or perhaps taking part in another charity run, dietitian Azmina Govindji has some energy-boosting tips to help you stay the course!

Achieve your fitness goals!
Want to know how to achieve your fitness goals effectively? Then watch our webcast from goal setting expert Nick Jarvis, and ask him a question to get some great advice on how to achieve your goals in 2009

Goal-setting – a strategy for success!
Whether you want to weigh a few pounds less or find a job that pays a few pounds more, you can increase your chances of attaining your goals by having a proper strategy, says behaviour analyst Judi James.

Ski Fitness
The signs that winter is creeping in are everywhere and this change in weather historically prompts a mass exodus from the treadmills of your local health club to the ski slopes of Europe! In this little offering I would like to discuss the dynamics of skiing and the physiology of balance in order for us to better condition our often under-prepared bodies for the unpredictable mountain that lies ahead.

Pilates with expert Lynne Robinson
Lynne Robinson is a world renowned expert in pilates - with clients such as Hugh Grant, Pat Cash and the England Cricket Team. You too can now benefit from Lynnes' expertise with our Pilates exercise videos, for whatever your level of fitness.

Get motivated to get fit with a summer of sport!
We’ll all be admiring the skill, dedication and fitness levels of the world’s leading athletes as they compete at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. But let’s not be passive observers, says personal trainer Jonathan Owen: we can all get motivated to get – and stay! – fit this summer.

The burning question...
We've all been told for years about the dangers of too much tanning. But now experts are saying that too little sun can cause serious problems.

Have fun, get fit, feel free - it's Bike Week 2008!
On June 15, around 27,000 people will set off for the UK's largest charity bike ride from London to Brighton – a gruelling 54 miles. The rest of us, though, can join one of the many shorter rides on offer during Bike Week, and take up the challenge to ‘Have fun, get fit and feel free’!

The virtual gym: the future of fitness?
Exergaming may be a lot more fun than a session in the gym or running round the block on a cold winters morning, but is the eagerly awaited Wii Fit a substitute for our normal exercise regime – or just an entertaining add-on?

On your bikes, kids!
As well as improving their fitness, cycling boosts children’s confidence, independence and self-esteem, say the campaign’s organisers.

Running back to fitness
Has your New Year's resolution to lose weight or exercise more begun to lose momentum? If so, don't lose heart: our fitness and nutrition experts have devised a simple running programme to get you back on track to a healthier lifestyle!

Boost your bone power!
It is an alarming fact that one in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 will suffer a broken bone as a result of osteoporosis at some point in their lives, yet there is much that we can do to build strong bones.

Animal Magic
Want to get fitter, healthier and more emotionally resilient? Get a pet. A growing body of studies confirms the health-boosting power of furry, scaly or feathered friends

3 treatments that make a difference
Millions of people visit complementary therapists for a variety of pains and problems, but can they really help? We weigh up the evidence for three of the most popular 'alternative' treatments

Living a normal life with Asthma
GP Martin Bell takes an in-depth look at asthma. Living a normal life is an achievable aim for most people with the condition, stresses Dr Bell - the secret lies in getting it under control.

How to get fit for summer
Fitness exercises advice adapted to you and to your specific needs

Living with high blood pressure
GP Martin Bell takes an in-depth look at high blood pressure or hypertension, a potentially life-threatening condition affecting many adults.

Fitness for life - exercise regimes for all ages
Exercise advice for all age groups, from children to older adults.

Overweight and inactive. Avoiding the negative spiral.
Lucy looks at some of the reasons for the obesity epidemic.