Medical Specialists® Pharmacy offer 6 tips for a healthy heart for National Heart Month

With Valentine’s Day less than two weeks away, the second month of the year often causes pandemonium as couples all around the world, more than at any other time, use all the love in their heart’s to make that extra effort in showing their loved one how much they care.

There could be another reason to think about the heart this month though – for those unaware, February is National Heart Month. The month-long campaign is led by the British Heart Foundation as a way to urge the nation to think more about heart health, as well as to increase awareness about heart and circulatory diseases.

The campaign is one that is annually supported by Medical Specialists® Pharmacy as heart and circulatory diseases are the leading causes of death for adults in Britain. Heart disease comprises of conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack and heart failure. However, there are steps to take to help prevent heart problems.

. Cut down on alcohol intake

The NHS recommends that men should not drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day, whilst for women the figure stands at just 2-3 units a day at most, and consuming more than this can have a detrimental impact to your heart health. Excessive alcohol intake can raise the amount of triglycerides (a type of fat) in the blood and also lead to abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke and obesity from the additional calories you are taking in.  Cutting down on alcohol can be made easier through the help of Medical Specialists® Pharmacy, who have recently began to supply the alcohol dependency treatment Selincro to suitable patients, after being inundated with requests for it.

. Cut down on salt intake

It is recommended that an adult should consume no more than 6g of salt per day – around one full teaspoon. As food labels sometimes only give the figure for sodium, people might be unsure how much they are getting but the following formula from the sodium figure listed, can help: Salt = sodium x 2.5. Therefore, adults should consume no more than 2.4g of sodium per day; equal to 6g of salt. Unfortunately, many of us in the UK consume far more than the 6g limit. On average, people in the UK eat about 8.1g of salt (3.2g sodium) a day. Too much salt can increase the volume of body fluids increases and raise blood pressure. High blood pressure (hypertension) can then result in serious problems such as heart disease or stroke.

.  Cut down on sugar intake

The majority of food and drink products that contain plenty of added sugars, also contain a high number of calories, often having very little nutritional value. Consuming plenty of sugary food and drink on a regular basis can result in weight gain and obesity, thus risking health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Added sugars should comprise of no more than 10% of the energy (calorie intake) obtained from food and drink each day, which works out at around 70g for men and 50g for women, but can vary according to age, size, and how active a person is. Food and drink to consider cutting down on include: sugary cereals, fizzy drinks, sugary squash, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, sweets, cereal bars, cakes, ice cream, puddings and yoghurt.

. Stop smoking

Smoking causes damage to the lining of the arteries, thereby reducing the space for blood to travel through, with the carbon monoxide contained in cigarettes also effecting the amount of oxygen that can reach the heart and other areas of the body, forcing the heart to work much harder to supply the body with the oxygen it requires. The dangers of smoking are further explained on the British Heart Foundation’s website, but smokers are at double the risk of suffering from a heart attack compared to people that have never smoked and smoking is the main cause of a multitude of cancers and lung disease. Smoking cessation treatments such as Champix can help people quit smoking for good though and reduce the risk of heart problems.

. Keep active

Extra weight is widely accepted to be linked to increase the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes, and all of these conditions then make heart disease or stroke all the more likely. For those unsure if they are at a healthy weight, body mass index (BMI) is usually one of the first port of calls to check this. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, whilst a BMI of 30 to 39.9 is considered to be obese. Exercise is a great way to shed the pounds but the simple fact remains that much of the nation lives a sedentary lifestyle. The NHS recommends that one step in treating obesity is to take up activities such as fast walking, jogging, swimming or tennis for 150-300 minutes a week, but obesity treatments like Xenical – in conjunction with a healthy diet – can help with weight loss too.

. Lower cholesterol

Adopting a healthy diet and regular exercise, as previously highlighted, can lower the level of cholesterol in the blood, or prevent cholesterol levels being too high to begin with. The higher the cholesterol level, the higher the risk of stroke or heart disease and therefore the overall risk of having a heart attack. Statin medication such as Atorvastatin or Pravastatin work to lower the LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol and raise the HDL (‘good’) cholesterol, and may be prescribed to certain people with risk factors for heart conditions, such as those with high cholesterol or high blood pressure, older patients, smokers, or those with family history of early heart disease.

The British Heart Foundation’s webpage has more information about heart diseases and advice on how to beat them.  Moreover, the charity are encouraging the nation to show their support on 6 February by wearing red and hosting an event to raise funds for their life-saving research. Anyone can get involved, whether it is at the workplace, school or with friends and family, and there are loads of great ideas for fundraising and essentials such as the sponsorship form and event poster.

Top tips for a healthy heart during National Heart Month

February is the time of year when we get to show our other half how much they mean to us, using all the love in our heart to go all out to impress and show we care.

However, in case you weren’t already aware, February is National Heart Month. It is a month-long campaign pioneered by the British Heart Foundation as a way to increase awareness about heart and circulatory diseases.

Although deaths from the two are falling, heart and circulatory disease is still one of the biggest killers in the UK and there are an estimated 2.6 million people living with Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in the UK alone. We all have a heart, so we are all potentially at risk.

You can adhere to some basic lifestyle improvements though to improve your heart health and limit the risk of developing heart disease.

. Stop smoking

Smoking damages the lining of your arteries, meaning space for blood to pass through is decreased, and the carbon monoxide in cigarettes hinders the amount of oxygen that can travel to your heart and other areas of the body. Smokers are double the risk of suffering from a heart attack than non-smokers and smoking is the main cause of a multitude of cancers and lung disease.
. Stay active

Keeping fit and active is great for your waistline and general appearance, but exercise is great for the heart too. Unfortunately, statistics show that 7 out of 10 of us are not engaging in physical activity and thus are increasing their risk of heart disease. This doesn’t mean you need to rush to the local gym to sign up, but small changes can make a big difference. Keeping active helps to lower blood pressure; a risk factor for heart disease, boosts good HDL cholesterol responsible for moving fat away from arteries and back to the liver for processing and will help to improve circulation by stopping blood clots from forming which can cause a heart attack or stroke. A brisk walk for 30 to 40 minutes done three times per week should suffice to reduce your cardiovascular risk.

. Limit alcohol intake

Drinking more than the recommended units of alcohol per day (3-4 for men, 2-3 for women) can have a detrimental impact to your heart health. Excessive alcohol can raise the quantity of a type of fat in the blood called triglycerides and also lead to abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke and obesity/diabetes from the additional calories you are taking in.

. Reduce your salt intake

If you, like so many others, have a diet that is high in sodium, this can lead to serious health problems. Sodium increases blood pressure as it causes the body to keep hold of excess fluid and blood volume increases, creating an added burden on the heart with increased pressure in the arteries. It is generally recommended that an adult should not consume more than 6g/1 teaspoon of salt each day. Certain foods are high in hidden salts and you should try to limit how much of them you eat. These include: baked beans, canned vegetables, cheese, crisps, pizzas and ready meals.

. Consider statins

Statins such as atorvastatin and pravastatin are tremendous for heart health because they target the metabolism of cholesterol in the body. Working in the liver, statins lower the bad LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream by between 20 and 60 per cent. High levels of bad cholesterol can cause fatty deposits to clog up your arteries and increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Statins have been shown to lower the death rate from cardiovascular diseases without increasing the death rate from other causes. You may be prescribed statins even if you appear to be in good health, for example if you have a prominent family history of cardiovascular disease.

Tips to improve heart health and avoid high cholesterol

If you are not already aware, it is currently National Cholesterol Week! Medical Specialists Pharmacy supports the raising awareness of such an important subject and we are doing everything we can to get people in the know about the risks of having high cholesterol. This seems especially vital after we reported yesterday that many of the population are not fully clued up on the subject, to say the least.

Medical Specialists are not the only major organisation in the UK to get behind the scheme however, other major organisations to throw their support behind the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle include: Marks and Spencers, Coca Cola, Tesco, Sainsbury and Dr Oats. The main theme with this year’s National Cholesterol Week is holding a ‘Hearty Tea Party’, whereby people are encouraged to host a tea party for family and friends. These tea parties will hopefully help to raise money through things such as raffles, selling tickets for entry to your party, charging guests for a brew, stalls selling plants, crafts, cakes etc., and the old classic ‘guess the weight of the cake’ game. The money raised will go towards helping those suffering with high cholesterol and who are at a dangerous risk of suffering heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and many other life-threatening conditions.


One of the most effective ways to decrease your ‘bad’ cholesterol levels is through statin therapy with the use of medications such as Crestor or Lipitor. However, there are many other things you can start doing to improve your lifestyle that will drastically improve your heart health in the process too! These are things you should not wait until years into the future when it could be too late, take a positive and proactive view today, your heart will thank you for it.

. Reduce your salt intake

Having too much salt in your diet will raise your blood pressure and thus increase your risk of coronary heart disease. Anybody over the age of 11 should be having no more than 6g of salt each day in their diet. Certain foods have a high salt content and you should think about having them less frequently, or cutting them out of your diet. They include: bacon, baked beans, bread, canned vegetables, cheese, crisps, ham, pork pies, pizza, and ready meals. Parents should try to make sure their children don’t eat too much salt which will result in them developing a taste for salty foods and affect them in later life.

. Cut out the cigarettes

More specifically, stop smoking! There is surely nothing else that a person can do themselves that will help them live for many more years. Non-smokers are twice as less likely to suffer from a heart attack in comparison to their smoking friends. With smoking bans still very much in place for the foreseeable future, and plenty of wet/miserable weather hitting the UK currently, there has never been a better time to stub out for good!

. Control your alcohol intake

Drinking more than four to five units of alcohol each day can pose problems for cardiac health. Consuming high levels of alcohol can over time increase triglycerides in your blood. These are a particular kind of fat found in the bloodstream and increased levels of triglycerides can result in artery walls thickening up, leaving you susceptible to blood clots.  Limit your intake to one or two units of alcohol per day and this will then reduce your risk of developing atherosclerosis, which is when a build-up of cholesterol and other fats clog up the walls of the arteries and can result in chronic chest pain and a heart attack. Consistent binge drinking can also put you at risk of a heart attack as well as weight gain and obesity.

. Eat more fruit and vegetables

Fruit and veg should be a staple of everybody’s diet as they are an excellent natural source of vitamins and minerals. A healthy diet should ideally include five or more serving of fruit and vegetables each day as they include antioxidants and other nutrients that are beneficial for great heart health.  Some studies though have shown that eight servings a day can even lead to a 22% reduction in the risk of dying from heart disease. Vitamin C is a common and powerful antioxidant found in many fruit and veg and this works at preventing cholesterol from ‘oxidising’. This basically means when cholesterol levels in your blood get too high and become ‘sticky’. Therefore the cholesterol attaches better to artery walls and calcifies as plaque. This plaque causes major health problems in regards to cardiovascular health.

. Become more active

Adults should try to do at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per day for five days a week. This can include: basketball, cycling, hiking, rollerblading, volleyball and walking fast. These activities mean you will be working hard enough to increase your heart rate actually break out in a sweat. Remember that your heart is a muscle; it needs to you to exercise so it can remain fighting fit and pumping blood around your body to the best of its ability. Exercise can also lift a person’s mood and prevent weight gain.

. Check your family history

As we mentioned yesterday, ‘familial hypercholesterolaemia’, (FH), is a potentially dangerous inherited condition that not many people are aware of. It is where somebody is born with high cholesterol because of a genetic defect, putting them at high risk of having vascular diseases and hardening of the arteries much earlier than normal. There are an estimated 120,000 sufferers in the UK and only around 15% are even aware they have the condition. It is advisable that everyone visits their doctor who can carry out a simple cholesterol check. If your cholesterol is abnormally high then they can suggest ways to best manage this, such as through statin medication.
So there you have it. These are just six of many ways that you can improve your heart health and also reduce the risk of you suffering from high cholesterol. They are all changes that you can start doing today, not five or ten years into the future. We encourage everybody to get on board and support National Cholesterol Week. With the weekend approaching, why don’t you begin organising your own Hearty Tea Party, raising both money and awareness about the dangers of high cholesterol. You can even share your own health tips and ideas with friends and family, listen to stories about what others are doing and start arranging healthy activities to get involved in with others such as trips to the gym, etc.