Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a serious condition in the UK and worldwide. It is the cause of more deaths than any other condition. It is estimated that one in ten women and one in six men will die from heart disease in the UK.
Each year in the UK over 73,000 people will die from heart disease. The condition is more common in men below the age of 50. Above the age of 50, both sexes are similarly vulnerable to develop CHD.
There are currently 2.3 million people in the UK who live with coronary heart disease. There are also 2 million people who have developed angina (chest pain) which is the most common symptom of coronary heart disease.
Symptoms of coronary heart disease
Each individual case of CHD may experience different symptoms. Some people may be diagnosed with CHD without noticing any previous symptoms. The main symptoms of coronary heart disease are:
- Angina (chest pain)
- Heart attacks
- Heart failure
Read more about the symptoms of CHD.
Causes of Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease is the result of an interruption in your hearts ability to pump blood efficiently throughout the body. A build-up of fatty substance within the coronary arteries can block or disturb the hearts blood supply.
The fatty deposits which accumulate in the arteries are called atheroma. The process of the fatty deposits building up on the walls of your arteries is called atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is usually a result of lifestyle choices and bad diet. Major contributors to the condition include:
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- High cholesterol
Read more about the causes of CHD.
Do I have heart disease?
You should consult your GP if you suspect that you have any of the symptoms associated with coronary heart disease. Your doctor will complete a risk assessment on your situation.
Your GP will consider your medical and family history. They will ask you questions about your lifestyle and will take a blood test for further examination.
To confirm whether you have CHD, you may need to undertake further testing which can include:
- An MRI scan
- Coronary angiography
- A CT scan
Read more about diagnosing CHD .
How is CHD treated?
There is no cure to coronary heart disease but there are several treatments which can help reduce the risk of heart attack and other symptoms.
If you are diagnosed with Coronary heart disease, you will need to make some changes to your lifestyle. These include:
- Giving up smoking
- Improve your diet
- Regular exercise
- Medication
- Surgery
Read more about treating CHD.
Preventing coronary heart disease
You can reduce the chances of developing coronary heart disease by improving some of your lifestyle choices.
Improving the health of your heart will also prevent other health problems including dementia and stroke.
- Eating a healthily
- Increasing physical activity
- Giving up smoking
- Controlling sugar levels and blood cholesterol
- Drinking less alcohol
Read more about preventing CHD.
Nutrition Advice for Heart Disease
Experts all agree that the symptoms of heart disease can be avoided or reduced by adopting a better diet. A balanced diet is the primary factor that can help you to lose weight and improve your quality of life.
Eating correctly can reduce your cholesterol and make it less likely that you will experience heart disease, heart attack or stroke.
It can be confusing to understand which foods are the best suited to provide you with a healthy balanced diet. There are endless publications which produce new theories and advice about foods and their links to heart disease.
A nutritionist can help you create a diet that works alongside your existing lifestyle and food preferences. A professional nutrition expert will be able to offer you the facts.
Alongside a basic outline of the foods that are required for a balanced diet, a nutritionist can tailor a plan to suit your requirements.
By discussing your current eating habits, a nutritionist can provide information about the food groups which you are lacking and those that you are eating too much of.
Adopting a healthy diet to prevent heart disease
Foods to avoid:
If you eat a lot of food which contain high levels of fat, especially saturated fat, you will be increasing your cholesterol. A high cholesterol is one of the major causes of heart disease.
Fatty foods
Avoiding the following high saturated fat foods in your diet can help you preventing heart disease:
- Butter
- Lard
- Hard cheese
- Cream
- Meat pies
- Fatty cuts of meat
- Sausages
- Cakes
- Biscuits
If you eat a lot of fried or roasted food, you may be adding more fat than is healthy. Try to stem, boil, poach, grill or microwave your food when cooking.
Too much sugar
You should also reduce the amount of sugar that you consume within your food and drink. Free Sugars are additional sugar which are added to foods. Free Sugars are also found naturally in honey, fruit juice and syrups. Try to cut down on the amount of foods which contain Free Sugars. These include:
- Soft drinks
- Chocolate
- Sweets
- Biscuits
- Cakes
Salt
Too much salt in your diet can also contribute towards heart disease. Eating too much salt is dangerous as it can result in an increase of blood pressure.
It is recommended that you only eat below six grams of salt each day. Check the salt content of processed foods that you buy. A high salt food is a product which contains more than 1.5 g of salt or 0.6g of sodium.
Foods to include:
You can improve your diet by reducing the amount of saturated fats that you eat or by replacing a high fat food with a low fat food.
You can improve your diet by consuming more foods which are high in unsaturated fats. Foods which are high in unsaturated fat includes:
- Nuts such as walnuts, almonds or pecans. Nuts make a grate snack to eat throughout the day. You could carry a small amount of nuts with you wherever you go.
- Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel or sardines. Try to eat two portions of fish per week. One portion should be an oily fish such as salmon or mackerel.
- Seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin, flaxseeds and linseeds. Flaxseed oil, flaxseeds or linseeds are a good alternative to fish for vegetarians.
- Vegetable oils such as rapeseed or olive oil.
Further reading
Visit the British Heart Foundation website.
Read more about heart disease on the NHS website.