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5 ways you’re damaging your heart
JOHANNESBURG – Today, 29 September, is World Heart Day, a day which focuses on creating awareness around healthy heart choices, so we’ve compiled a list of things that you may not have realised were damaging that vital organ.
- While research has proven that cycling helps your heart, it’s not only for the reasons you think. Your car may be killing you – think artery-damaging road pollutants, sitting in traffic for hours and even the stress of road rage.
- Exercise is good for your heart – there’s no doubt about it. However, ruthless training regimes could be causing more damage than you think. Studies have shown that high-intensity competitors, such as marathon runners, tend towards heart enlargement and cardiac arrhythmias.
- Noise is another thing you need to be aware of. Excessive noise triggers stress hormones like cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline which could lead to hypertension, stroke and even heart failure. There are your reasons for insisting the kids turn that ruckus down.
- Sitting at your desk may be putting your heart at risk. You spend over nine hours of your day sitting, which can thicken your blood and increase the risk of blood clots. It’s a neat idea to set an alarm on your phone to remind you to stand up and walk around for five minutes every hour.
- It turns out Ben Franklin’s maxim ‘early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy’ may be true. Pulling an all-nighter can be rough on your body – not just your heart. The disruption of your regular day-night cycle can put stress on your heart as your body doesn’t have the time to power down and regenerate.
