RESULTS

 

Lifestyle choices

It's never too late to make positive changes to how you live your day to day life. There are huge benefits to stopping smoking, being more active, limiting alcohol intake and eating more healthily.

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How can I reduce my risk of CVD?

There are a number of things you can do to reduce your risk of Cardiovascular Disease. Click on the icons below to learn more about the Lifestyle Changes you can make to keep your heart healthy.

Live well

Small and simple changes could make a huge difference! A healthy lifestyle is the best way to prevent CVD. See below for more information.

Know your numbers!

Most people know their weight, but do you know what your blood pressure is? Or your cholesterol? The only way to find out is to get checked. See below for more information.

The Main Causes of Heart Disease

High blood pressure

Know your numbers …

Having a healthy blood pressure is essential to maintaining a healthy heart.

More than one in ten people living in Birmingham and Solihull are known to have high blood pressure (hypertension), a leading cause of heart attack and stroke.

What’s your blood pressure? Do you know your numbers? Next time you see your doctor or practice nurse, ask them to check.

High Blood Pressure

Having a healthy blood pressure is essential to maintaining a healthy heart....
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Smoking

Giving up smoking is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your...
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High cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fatty substance known as a lipid and is vital for the normal functioning of the body. It's mainly made by the liver, but can also be found in some foods...
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Overweight

If you’d like free local support to help you lose weight...
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Poorly controlled diabetes

People with diabetes have a higher chance of developing cardio...
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Inactivity

Exercise is the miracle cure we've always had, but for too long we've neglected to take our recommended dose...
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Too much alcohol

Drinking more than the recommended units of alcohol can have a harmful effect...
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Unhealthy diet

We recommend eating a healthy, balanced, high-fibre diet...
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Stress

Spotting the early signs of stress will also help prevent it getting...
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If you're aged 40-74 years old you may be eligible for a
FREE NHS health check. Part of this check involves
assessing your individual CVD risk and advising you how
to reduce it. Ask your Dcotor to see if you are eligible. 

 

Look after your heart...

 

Exercise

Exercise

30 minutes exercise a day keeps your heart healthy …

The best way of maintaining a healthy weight – and reduce your chances of developing high blood pressure - is to combine a healthy diet with regular exercise.

That means around 30 minutes of physical exercise on five or more days a week – things like: fast walking, riding a bike, mowing the lawn, hiking and much more.  

Regular exercise makes your heart and blood circulatory system more efficient, lowers your cholesterol level, and keeps your blood pressure at a healthy level.

If you're doing no exercise now, start out slow. Even 10 minutes at a time may offer some health benefits. Studies show that people who have achieved even a moderate level of fitness are much less likely to die early than those with a low fitness level.

There’s lots of information about building up and maintaining your fitness on the “live well” pages at NHS Choices.

Smartphones

Smartphones

Let your smartphone do the talking …

There are lots of helpful tools you can download to your smartphone to help with changing your lifestyle:

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