Heart health begins with sticking to basic habits such as exercise, diet, sleep and blood pressure management, according to a British cardiologist. For women, cardiovascular risk factors shift in early adulthood, during pregnancy and around menopause, so each stage calls for its own review.
According to medical sources on the 1st, the British women's health outlet Women's Health recently featured the heart care routine that Dr. Arvind Vasudeva, a cardiologist at New Victoria Hospital, follows himself. He said he does exactly what he advises his patients to do, stressing that prevention should be built into daily life rather than left as a response to disease after it appears.
For exercise, he chooses a little every day over intense sessions crammed into one stretch. Adding strength training to aerobic exercise helps cardiorespiratory fitness and the control of blood pressure and blood sugar, he said.
His diet is built on the Mediterranean pattern: more vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts and fish, and less processed food, salt and saturated fat.
A review published in the journal Circulation Research found that closer adherence to a traditional Mediterranean diet tends to come with lower rates of coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke and cardiovascular disease overall. The Spanish clinical trial PREDIMED, covered in the review, applied a Mediterranean diet to 7,447 high-risk participants over five years and found a reduction in major cardiovascular events. Consistency matters more than perfection, the doctor said, adding that eating pizza now and then is fine.
High blood pressure and high cholesterol often progress without symptoms. Knowing blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar readings is what makes it possible to act before disease sets in, he said, adding that he never skips regular checkups and keeps a steady record of his blood pressure with a home device. Sleep is discussed in terms not only of duration but also of the hour at which a person falls asleep.
In a U.K. Biobank study published in 2021 in European Heart Journal — Digital Health, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology, which followed 88,026 people for an average of 5.7 years, the group that fell asleep between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. had the lowest incidence of cardiovascular disease.
Compared with that group, going to sleep after midnight carried a 25% higher risk, before 10 p.m. a 24% higher risk and between 11 p.m. and midnight a 12% higher risk, and the association was more pronounced in women. The researchers suggested that falling asleep after midnight may affect the body clock by reducing exposure to morning light. Because the study was observational, however, it is difficult to conclude that bedtime causes the disease.
The doctor named smoking as the single most powerful risk factor a person can change, advising people not to smoke and to drink in moderation. Stress cannot be eliminated, he said, but the way of handling it can be changed. Outdoor activity, exercise, relationships, hobbies and time away from work all help, and he said he unwinds by going to concerts and watching Arsenal matches.
The idea that prevention can start in one's 50s or 60s is a misconception, in the doctor's assessment. He also stressed knowing one's family history. For women, he pointed to three stages. In early adulthood, habits around blood pressure, weight, smoking and physical activity take hold. During pregnancy, preeclampsia, gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes can signal cardiovascular risk after childbirth, making long-term follow-up necessary. Around menopause, blood pressure, cholesterol, body composition and metabolic markers can change, making it a time to reassess risk.
The long-term risk tied to pregnancy complications is borne out by other sources as well. In a scientific statement issued on March 29, 2021, the American Heart Association classified gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, delivery of a small-for-gestational-age infant, pregnancy loss and placental abruption as risk factors for later cardiovascular disease.
Gestational hypertension was presented as raising the later risk of cardiovascular disease by 67% and the risk of stroke by 83%. A 2020 study analyzing more than 500,000 Norwegian women found that women who experienced preeclampsia in a single pregnancy had twice the risk of heart failure. A U.K. Biobank analysis highlighted by the American Heart Association in March 2024 found that among women with a history of pregnancy complications, those with strong cardiovascular health measures after childbirth had a risk similar to that of women with no such history.
