Features - Advice for a Healthy Heart During National Heart Month

Did you know that coronary heart disease is the most common cause of death in the UK? It kills one in every four men and one in every six women.

February is National Heart Month, and Cardiologist Klaus Witte of Spire Leeds Hospital offers his top five tips for keeping your heart healthy:

• Make sure you are getting enough exercise
Aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity which raises your breathing rate above normal on five or more days a week.
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet:
• include at least five portions of fruit/vegetables a day and at least two portions of oily fish per week (e.g. salmon, mackerel or trout)
• limit your consumption of saturated fat (found in full-fat dairy products, fatty meats, chips, cakes, biscuits, cooking fats etc.)
• don't add extra salt to your food. The daily allowance is 6g of salt for adults - roughly a teaspoon
• moderate your alcohol intake. The recommended daily limit of alcohol units is three to four for men and two to three for women
• Keep yourself at a healthy weight
• If you are a smoker, try to quit
• Be aware of any family history of heart disease, especially in immediate family members. Your doctor can offer preventative advice if necessary.

As well as keeping your heart healthy, all of these factors can also help reduce your chance of developing conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure (also known as hypertension) and raised cholesterol levels, which may encourage heart disease.

The content of this release is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the professional medical advice of your doctor or other health care professional.

Spire Healthcare is the second largest private hospital provider in the UK with 36 hospitals and a total of 1,983 beds. It was formed in 2007 by leading private equity company Cinven.

Spire Healthcare provides services for private and insured patients as well as NHS funded patients under the government’s Free Choice initiative. It also offers cosmetic and weight-loss surgery. It treats 930,000 patients a year, employs 7,600 staff and works with over 3,000 medical consultants. For more information visit www.spirehealthcare.com.

Page updated:20 February 2009