How to improve your heart health

February is Heart Month, and the first Friday in February is National Wear Red Day.

“Go Red for Women” has been the American Heart Association’s initiative since 2004 to help raise awareness and support women and heart disease, and MultiCare Health System is a strong supporter of it.

Please wear red on Feb. 7, 2025, to show your support for women and heart disease.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States — causing every one in five female deaths — and can affect women of any age.

This may sound alarming, but the good news is that about 80 percent of heart disease and stroke events may be prevented by lifestyle changes — and getting treated for your cardiac risk factors.

Know your risk for heart disease

Risk factors you can control:

• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• Lack of physical activity
• Elevated lipids (cholesterol panel)
• Type 2 diabetes

Risk factors you can’t control:

• Family history of premature heart disease (stent, bypass surgery or heart attack)
  • First-degree male relative (father, brother, son) before age 55
  • First-degree female relative (mother, sister, daughter) before 65
• Age: Men 45 and older; women 55 and older

Some risk-enhancing factors:

• Autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, mixed connective tissue disease)
• Chronic kidney disease stage 3
• Persistent elevated LDL cholesterol greater than 160

Risk factors unique to women:

• Pregnancy-related issues: Preeclampsia, gestational diabetes
• Breast cancer: Chemotherapy and radiation treatments

The Pulse Cardiovascular Health Program is designed to help identify patients at risk for cardiovascular disease as well as manage that risk. We also use a coronary calcium score to assess for coronary artery disease.

4 proven ways to care for your heart health

1. Physical activity: The AHA recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week. This can range from a 10-minute walk to marathon running.

There is evidence that strength training helps increase muscle mass, leading to improved calorie burn and weight management. Exercise will also keep your brain young, or at least slow down the normal decline in age-related thinking skills.

Consider checking your waist circumference to height ratio: Divide your waist measurement by your height, either in centimeters or inches. This ratio helps calculate your body fat distribution and can be a significant early indicator for risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

A ratio of 0.5 or less is considered healthy for men and women. For example, a 33-inch waist on a 5-foot-5-inch (or 65-inch) person has a waist-to-height ratio of 0.5.

John Ratey, MD, of Harvard Medical School and author of “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain,” has documented how exercise protects against vascular dementia. Imaging studies suggest that key brain areas responsible for thinking and memory are larger in people who exercise than in people who don’t.

2. Food choices: The newest data shows that the top three diets are the Mediterranean diet, DASH diet and vegetarian diet. These diets include at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, whole grains and low-fat dairy products, and avoidance of processed red meat. The data shows improved heart health and brain health.

Data from the Nurses’ Health Study (1984–2014) and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study showed that daily intake of five servings of fruit and vegetables (versus two servings) was associated with:

• 13 percent lower total mortality
• 12 percent lower cardiovascular disease mortality
• 10 percent lower cancer mortality

Drink more water. Studies recommend drinking at least half fluid ounce per kilogram body weight. So, a person weighing 150 pounds (68 kilograms) should drink at least 34 ounces of water.

3. Sleep: This is an area we haven’t traditionally looked at in connection with heart disease, but a recent article in the Journal of Cardiology compared four-hour sleep length to nine-hour sleep length. It showed that shorter sleep led to an increase in abdominal fat and increased calorie consumption. While this was a small study, it has ramifications for cardiovascular outcomes.

Sleep is restorative and necessary for healthy living. Some tips for sleep success:

• Avoid high-intensity exercise the hour before bed
• Eat your final meal of the day at least three hours before bedtime
• Stay away from screens for at least two hours before bedtime
• Avoid alcohol before bed — it has been linked to irregular sleep patterns and can impact melatonin production, affecting circadian rhythm

4. Stress and relaxation: Much of the data shows that we do better if we work and socialize together. Psychological health impacts cardiovascular health.

Happiness leads to healthier behaviors, such as eating healthy, exercising regularly and sleeping better, according to the American Heart Association. This, in turn, improves blood pressure and reduces excess body fat, resulting in lower risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Don’t forget joy

Joy is a positive emotion that can have a significant impact on your health and well-being.

Facets of positive psychological well-being, such as optimism and gratitude, are positive health assets. The pillars of health are spiritual, physical, emotional, social well-being and purpose. Gratitude releases feel-good hormones like oxytocin, and studies show it causes a biochemical response that has anti-inflammatory benefits.

We should try to follow the 8+8+8 rule:

• 8 hours of hard work
• 8 hours of good sleep
• 8 hours of faith, family and friends; health, hygiene and hobby; and soul, service and smile (also known as the 3Fs, 3Hs and 3Ss)

Tips for cultivating joy, optimism and emotional vitality (a sense of enthusiasm, hopefulness and engagement):

• Prioritize social connection — loneliness has been identified as the number-one health issue in the United States
• Practice gratitude
• Engage in random acts of kindness
• Get the recommended seven hours of sleep
• Exercise regularly

This is the right time to not only celebrate your valentine on Feb.14, but also cherish the valentine that keeps you going — your heart!