The two vital DIY tests you must take to protect against killer heart attacks, reveals a leading cardiologist – plus the five other surprising steps to help keep your safe

Heart disease kills twice as many women as breast cancer each year in the UK and leads to more than 173,000 deaths – that’s almost the equivalent of the entire population of the city of Oxford.

So what are YOU doing to protect yourself from it?

The answer is probably ‘not much’ – as, typically, it is dementia or cancer that top the polls of the diseases that people fear the most and actively try to avoid.

But heart and circulatory diseases affect more people than cancer and dementia combined, with around 2.3 million people in the UK living with coronary heart disease, the most common form. This is where arteries clog with a build-up of fatty deposits – or plaque. This plaque can break off and block blood flow to the heart, leading to a heart attack.

Heart disease can be a problem for those of all ages – any amount of plaque poses a risk. It is not just older patients who can suffer life-threatening heart attacks, around 26,000 people under the age of 75 die as a result of heart attacks every year.

It was watching my cardiologist uncle rush to the aid of a man in his 50s who’d had a sudden heart attack that inspired me to specialise in cardiology.

But I have a personal interest, too, as I have a strong family history of heart disease and my father, a retired GP, has narrowed arteries.

I’m now 55 and I want to maximise my time with my family – I’m a father of four and my wife, Sue-Anne, is a cardiac nurse, so with her encouragement I do whatever I can to keep my heart in good shape.

Here’s how I do it.

Get breathless and sweaty

I work long hours – three days a week I clock up 12 or 13 hour days – but even if it means setting my alarm earlier than normal and getting up at 5am, I make time to exercise.

It helps by improving the condition of the heart so that it pumps more efficiently and that means it exerts less force on the blood pressure walls and relaxes or softens the blood vessel walls.

It also helps me feel less stressed – which is also good for the heart as this reduces levels of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which can contribute to high blood pressure.

So I try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise that makes me breathless and sweaty five days a week – that’s the key: that it makes you breathless and sweaty.

I do a daily fast walk with my two chow chow dogs (Luna and Lolly) and two or three times a week I do around 20 minutes on a static rowing machine at the gym.

Skip breakfast

I’m a great believer in the benefits of intermittent fasting – where you only eat within a certain window of time.

It helps control appetite and blood sugar (eating throughout the day leads to repeated spikes in blood sugar and if this is raised too high it can damage blood vessels).

I learned about it through the work of Dr Michael Mosley and my wife prodded me to have a go.

Since starting to incorporate it into my life about 12 years ago, I have felt fresher during the day – when I was having a full lunchtime meal (I now just have fruit) I would often feel sleepy in the afternoon.

Now a typical day’s intake for me is a cup of coffee before I exercise and maybe a glass of milk mid-morning but otherwise I eat nothing until 2pm when I have fruit and berries for lunch. Then I have a meal in the evening (such as chicken or fish and vegetables). I try to have it by 8.30pm or 9pm but it depends on work.

As well as fruit and veg with every meal, we have oily fish at least once, if not twice, a week specifically as the omega 3 fats in it have been found to benefit heart health – for example by slowing the build-up of plaque and generally keeping blood vessel walls in better shape.

Adopting this form of eating has helped me lose weight. I started putting on weight with the birth of each of our children (the oldest is now 21) and this peaked 16 years ago when my youngest daughter was born. I then weighed 90kg (14st 1lb) – I’m 5ft 10in tall – giving me a BMI of almost 29, bordering on the ‘obese’ range. Taking up a morning fast helped me shift that weight – now I’m 78kg (12st 2lb).

Take these daily supplements

Personally, I take a muti-vitamin every day but that’s largely to keep my immunity in good shape so that I don’t get colds and so forth, rather than for my heart.

For patients taking statins to reduce their cholesterol levels (I don’t, but would do if my doctor advised it) who are struggling with side-effects such as muscle aches I suggest they try Coenzyme Q10 supplements.

Coenzyme Q10 is an antioxidant produced naturally in the body but levels of which can be lowered by the statins. Studies suggest taking a supplement might help lower the chance of side-effects.

Go to bed before you’re tired

I make a conscious effort to stop what I’m doing and go to bed before I hit that point where I feel exhausted (it’s normally around 10pm).

There is the odd day when I fall into bed so tired that I fall asleep straightaway, but doing that I find provides less good sleep quality (so I don’t wake up feeling refreshed) – and good sleep quality can have a beneficial impact on things such as heart rhythm and blood pressure.

That’s because sleep recharges and refreshes the brain, which controls heart rate and rhythm and, to an extent, blood pressure. If you don’t sleep well then it’s like keeping the computer on all night – it is prone to glitches. The theory is that an overly tired brain will send faulty signals to the heart.

So set a bedtime that works for you– ideally before you’re completely exhausted – and make sure you get at least 7 hours a night, then stick to it. You could even set an alarm on your phone telling you it’s time to turn in.

Say yes to pizza (now and again)

Dr Patel’s view is that if you say ‘OK one or two days a week I don’t need to be so rigid with things’, it makes it far easier to stick to a healthy lifestyle

I’m a great advocate for having a healthy lifestyle but I also think you shouldn’t live life like a monk.

The benefits of relaxing are multiple – especially for the heart – and so there needs to be a balance. My view is that if you say ‘OK one or two days a week I don’t need to be so rigid with things’, it makes it far easier to stick to a healthy lifestyle.

So at the weekend I relax my routine: I don’t fast as rigidly – I might have a brunch of poached egg on toast and enjoy a beer and some crisps while I watch sport in the afternoon, or maybe have a glass or two of wine with my meal (I don’t drink through the week).

There is some evidence that modest amounts of alcohol such as red wine are not harmful to the heart but excessive amounts can raise blood pressure, blood sugar and lead to weight gain.

Also, about once a month as a family we might have a pizza takeaway.

The exception to this more relaxed approach is smoking. Unlike alcohol, there is no safe limit to stick to and it can only do you harm – I’ve never smoked and the first thing I ask patients to do if they are a smoker is to quit.

And last, but by no means least: take these two key DIY health checks regularly

One thing I do religiously and implore all my patients to do is to keep an eye on your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers.

I have a blood pressure machine at home (look for one that’s validated by the British Hypertension Society), which I use once a month – and I go to the GP twice a year to get this and my cholesterol checked.

These figures are like little snapshots of what’s going on inside your body and keeping these levels within healthy limits is absolutely vital for good heart health.

Having raised blood pressure can exert such force on the blood vessel walls that it damages them and this can encourage the progression of heart disease.

Meanwhile, cholesterol can lead directly to atherosclerosis, the furring or narrowing of blood vessel walls.

There are simple measures that can help control both figures, which is why I keep an eye on them.

A few years ago my blood pressure reading – at 142/98 ( it’s considered to be high if it’s 135/85 or above) – was higher than it should be, so I made changes to my lifestyle, such as taking up regular exercise (30 minutes a day) and within three months it was back in the normal range.

I also avoid adding salt to my food and never add it to cooking either (it causes fluid retention and raises blood pressure).

I also have no more than three small cups of coffee a day as too much caffeine can also push blood pressure up, because it increases heart rate.

Now my blood pressure is round 126/84 and my cholesterol is also within healthy limits.

I also periodically check my pulse, using my fingers and a watch and count out how many pulses there are in 60 seconds. People with a heart rate over 75 beats per minute may be at risk of heart problems. If yours is habitually over 75 and you have raised blood pressure it is worth having a chat with your GP.

• Dr Sundip Patel is a consultant cardiologist at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust and the private London Bridge Hospital