Here are six surprising factors which may impact your heart health
Think you know about having a healthy heart?
Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, Ruth Goss, shares some of the charity’s research around factors which may impact heart health…
Circadian rhythm
Would you describe yourself more as a night owl or an early bird? Researchers supported by the British Heart Foundation have found that in comparison with people who considered themselves to be ‘definitely a morning person’, people who considered themselves to be ‘definitely an evening person’ tended to have a smaller volume of blood in their heart chambers over the course of a heartbeat.
Ruth says: ‘Our body’s natural daily cycles, known as circadian rhythms, are linked to our heart health. A disruption to our circadian rhythms may make us feel tired and could affect our heart health too. This may also explain why people who have an irregular sleep pattern — such as people who work night shifts — are at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.’
Gum health
We all know that flossing and taking care of our gums is good for our teeth. But what about our heart?
Ruth explains: ‘Research has found that people with gum disease may be at higher risk of a heart attack, but how this happens is not clear. Poor dental health is also associated with an infection called endocarditis which affects the lining of your heart chambers and valves. Visiting the dentist regularly and having good dental hygiene habits can help reduce the risk of some heart problems.’
The timings of our meals
Do you prefer an early dinner or to eat your main meal a little later?
Ruth says: ‘There are several theories about why the timing of your meals may be important. Studies have shown that even when people eat the same number of calories, the time of day they are eaten affects how they are used in the body. This difference could affect weight, cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels – all of which can affect your risk of heart and circulatory diseases. There is some evidence that eating late at night can be linked to obesity as well as having effects on how the body regulates blood sugar levels.
‘More research is needed to know for sure how meal timings influence our health, but for now, try to stick to a regular meal pattern. Eating earlier in the day rather than late at night is unlikely to be harmful and could help our health.’
Our height
Ruth says: ‘As strange as it sounds, there’s now research we’ve funded — published in the New England Journal of Medicine — to suggest that genes which pre-dispose us to being short may also make us more likely to suffer from heart disease. It’s not clear exactly how the two are related yet, but it may be that the genes which are involved in determining height are also involved in controlling some other risk factor, possibly cholesterol levels.
‘There’s nothing that we can do to change our height — it’s what is called a non-modifiable risk factor. But there are plenty of modifiable risk factors, for example smoking or a sedentary lifestyle, that we can tackle regardless of our height.’
Our bedtime
Ruth says: ‘According to research published in the European Heart Journal, going to sleep between 10pm and 11pm is linked to a lower risk of heart and circulatory disease. However, it’s important to remember that this study can only show an association and can’t prove cause and effect. More research is needed into sleep timing and duration as a risk factor for heart and circulatory diseases.’
Air pollution
Ruth says: ‘Air pollution is harmful to your heart and circulatory system. When you breathe in poor quality air, the air pollutants can travel into your bloodstream through your lungs, and to your heart. This can increase your risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases. Air pollutants can damage your blood vessels by making them narrower and harder, which can make your blood more likely to clot. The British Heart Foundation has funded £5.8million of research into air pollution and this lifesaving research is helping us to better understand the impact of air pollution on our health.’
• For more info, please visit bhf.org.uk