Protecting Your Heart

Dancing to the Beat of Your Own Private Drum

Today is World Heart Day.  Every year, over 17 million people die from heart disease. In an effort to combat this trend, the World Heart Federation created World Heart Day, held every year on September 29. Many heart-related events occur on or around this date, including health screenings and public education on the causes of heart disease.

As someone who is intimately acquainted with diseases of the heart, I appreciate the increased focus on heart health.  If you have not seen your doctor in the past year or two, go get a physical exam and have your heart checked.  Get to know your important numbers – blood pressure, blood cholesterol, blood sugar, body mass index (BMI), and Lipoprotein A.  Maybe get an ECG.

I understand how difficult it is to gain access to the tests that check these metrics when you don’t have health insurance.  For years, I struggled to keep up with my chronic heart condition and take my medication because I bounced around several jobs without health coverage.  During Heart Health Day and the surrounding days, certain medical events offer free heart health screenings.  I urge you to look for a screening near you.  It could save your life.

Absent medical intervention, there are several things you can do to protect your heart today:

• If you smoke, quit.  If you don’t smoke, don’t start.  This applies to vapes as much as regular tobacco cigarettes.

• If you drink, do it in moderation.  No more than one drink per day for women or two for men.  Alcohol is a cardiotoxin.

• If you are overweight, consider seeking help with weight loss.  Every extra pound you carry, whether on your body or in a backpack, causes your heart to work harder. (This isn’t about weight shaming.  You should love your body no matter the size, but your heart needs you to love it too.)

• Eat a healthy diet.  Read labels.  Avoid saturated fat and added sugars and salt.  Try to eat more vegetables and less processed meats.  Try to exchange sugary sodas for sparkling water without artificial sweeteners.

• Exercise.  You don’t have to train for a marathon.  Just try to move your body more.  Park farther out in the parking lot, take the stairs, keep a set of dumbbells next to the couch and pump out a couple set during commercials.  You don’t need to join a gym, but you can if you want.  (If you can’t afford dumbbells, a jug of liquid laundry detergent can make a good substitute.)

This isn’t meant to be a lecture, but a pep talk.  I urge you to love yourself, and that means loving your body and taking care of it.  Nourish your flesh with foods that are good for it.  Talk to your body like you would a lover, a child, a pet.  Say kind words.  Take it for a walk in the woods, jump rope, fly a kite.  See how many different kinds of flowers you can count.  Listen to what gossip the birds are spreading through the trees.

No matter who else you have in your life, all you have is yourself in the end.  Take care of yourself.  You’re the only you you’ve got.

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