KONTAN.CO.ID – Jakarta. Understand how to check heart health independently. This is important to prevent heart attacks.
Awareness of a healthy lifestyle continues to increase during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately this is accompanied by an increase in health problems. One of the health problems to worry about is the risk of heart disease.
According to Dr Divya Marina Fernandes, an interventional cardiologist at Aster RV Hospital, Bengaluru, India, many people lead less active lifestyles these days. The reduced activity is the result of lifestyle changes caused by the pandemic.
Increased stress levels, he said, also caused many people to start smoking, and this certainly had a negative impact on heart health.
How to check heart health conditions
According to Fernandes, a person must recognize his body to understand whether the heart is healthy or not. “If we feel very tired, have chest pain, or have had time to run a kilometer and climb two stairs and now have shortness of breath while doing it, then we need to pay attention to heart health.”
Without rushing to the hospital, we can do a simple check for heart problems at home. “A lot of people invest in pulse measuring devices and blood pressure kits.”
“This can help us check blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen saturation without having to go to the hospital,” said Fernandes.
The average blood pressure for a healthy person is generally in the 140/90 range, while the resting heart rate is 60-100 beats per minute (bpm). If the heart rate is outside the stated range, then we should consult a doctor.
In line with that explanation, Dr. TS Kler, chairman at Fortis Heart & Vascular Institute, Gurugram & Fortis Hospital, said there are several heart diseases that start at an early age. “This disease can usually be detected from an EKG or another test called a 24-hour holter test, such as 24-72 hours of electrical monitoring of the heart’s activity.”
“We can consult a cardiologist or cardiac electrophysiologist who specializes in cardiac electrical problems,” said Kler.
The influence of exercise
People who have a solid activity or are diligent in exercising will raise their heart rate to a high level. As a result, the resting heart rate of people who are active will drop below 60 bpm. “Lower heart rate implies better endurance in athletes. The better endurance training, the lower the heart rate,” said Fernandes.
“This helps the heart relax and fill with more blood so that it can pump more blood to all organs. That is, more nutrients for all organs.”
The formula for calculating the maximum heart rate The general formula for knowing your maximum heart rate during exercise is to subtract 220 from your age, then multiply the result by 85 percent.
For example, if we are 30 years old, then we are allowed to exercise until the maximum heart rate reaches 161.5 bpm. This figure is obtained from 220-30 = 190. Then 85 percent of 190 is 161.5.
“Sometimes excessive activity can cause mal-adaptation of heart function and an athlete can have a disease called athlete’s heart.” “The heart returns to normal when this activity is left for a period of time,” added Kler.
This article has been published on Kompas.com with the title “How to Recognize Your Own Heart Health Conditions, Do You Know?“,
Author: Gading Perkasa
Editor: Glori K. Wadrianto
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