How to protect your heart during the holidays

In this post I share a message that is relevant during end of year holidays like Christmas and New Year’s. We all know that during these holiday dates we increase our caloric intake, salt intake, alcohol intake and there are more challenges when attempting to practice outdoor activities.

Because of these risks, I invite all of you to be more mindful of the challenges that will arrive along with all these celebrations. But not all hope is lost, a great antidote to these risks is physical activity, body movement, I highly recommend walking at least 10,000 steps a day outdoors or on a treadmill.

For those that suffer from hypertension I advice to keep a log of your blood pressure readings, take all your prescribed medications, and don’t forget to ask the doctor if any dosage needs to be adjusted. During the end of the year some people tend to put on some weight (3-5kilos) this tends to affect patients that suffer from heart conditions, are hypertensive, suffer from angina, heart failure, or cardiac arrhythmias.

There is also a condition called “Holiday Heart Syndrome” a medical condition described in some scientific journals and medical textbooks in which patients develop cardiac arrhythmias from excessive partying, lack of sleep and increased alcohol intake. It manifests as heart palpitations, tachycardia, and it presents around the Christmas holidays on December 25th and 31st. There is a peak in hospital admissions due to this diagnosis. Because of this we recommend to practice moderation, to be compliant with medication intake and don’t forget to consult your doctor about the need to adjust medication dosages when necessary.

The important message here is to be mindful of these risks, it is healthy to celebrate but is also important to be cautious.
What can be done to counteract the effects of increase calories, salt and alcohol intake?
Following on this thread we also like to emphasize like each year the importance of getting a cardiovascular wellness exam at the beginning of the new year.

The complete cardiovascular wellness exam evaluates your overall wellbeing such as metabolism, a heart health. Some of the evaluations we recommend are:

• Physical exam with complete vital signs assessment.
• Risk factor assessment: evaluate individual health risk factors, this will allow you to create personal goals along with your doctor. An in depth evaluation will allow the physician to determine what additional test a patient may require. Some may be just to stay informed of their overall health and to implement actions to remain healthy.

Some examples:

o Improvement of blood pressure, keeping values as close to 120/80mmHg,
o Maintain healthy lipid values such as total cholesterol under 200, HDL above 55, LDL between 100-140.
o A cardiovascular stress should remain normal (negative from disease)

• Complete metabolic panel (blood work): Glucose, Lipids: HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, kidney function: uric acid, BUN, creatinine, and other lab work tailored to specific patient needs.
• Electrocardiogram; a diagnostic exam that shows any abnormalities in heart function.
• A cardiac stress test is recommended to all persons older than 45 years of age.
• Additional tests to rule out or confirm previous clinical exams.

This day in age we live surrounded by advanced technology and it has become a standard procedure to take a “photograph” of the coronary arteries of the heart without the need to perform a cardiac catheterism. Today we have the AngioCT technology available in the city of Tijuana. There are also exams that will put the heart under ischemic conditions such as Stress-Echocardiogram. These tests are more specialized and are needed for specific clinical cases. But the overall recommendation is: Physical exam and general assessment by cardiologist, EKG, Stress test lab work.

The final takeaway is to take advantage of the new year to get in shape, if you are sedentary is highly recommended to improve your overall lifestyle, start an exercise routine, walk at least 10k steps a day as per WHO recommendations. This applies to all even if you are sedentary or active is always important to get checked, and stay informed, continue to be disciplined with your medications such as those for hypertension, heart failure, or cardiac angina.

I wish you happy holidays, merry Christmas, and best wishes on the new year. Thank you kindly.