What's Your Heart's Age?

Hey everyone,

I don’t have home design or recipe love to give you today. But, I do have something important to tell you. We all know that February is the month of…

But in order to use our heart to love, we need to take care of it!

I have something interesting to share with you. Do you know your heart’s age? You might think it’s the same age as you. Nope, maybe not.  Your heart may be aging faster than you.  Scary, but true.  Did you know that heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in Canada? Ugh.

This is my Uncle Tommy. He died of a heart attack three years ago at the age of 53. Way too young!  It was such a sudden and tragic loss to our family.

We all know someone that has died from heart disease and many times knowledge is power.  There is an amazing online tool called the Heart Age Calculator. It’s a super easy and fast questionnaire that helps you calculate your cardiovascular age and assess risk of heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular disease within the next 10 years.   It’s the only scientifically validated online tool available that provides a personalized heart age and cardiovascular risk profile as recommended by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines.

I encourage you to do it! It might be a huge eye opener! Visit this link at Shoppers Drug Mart to do the test! 

So, I did the test and according to the Heart Age Calculator, my heart is 30 years old and I have a 1.2% risk of cardiovascular disease.  Not too shabby. My actual age is 34 so I was happy to see that my heart isn’t aging faster than me.   However, I would like to see that heart age lower.  Is it possible for it to be a teenager?!

There are lots of ways we can be more heart healthy by stopping smoking, monitoring our blood pressure, being active, regulating our cholesterol and taking control of our bodies.

As a woman, I know that heart disease is one of the leading killers amongst women. So, one way that I try to keep my ticker healthy is run.

On May 25^th I will be running the Ottawa Marathon. Yup, it’s far. Nope you don’t have to run a marathon to be heart healthy but I encourage you to find something that will get your heart beating faster than it is reading this blog post. Whether it’s taking the dog for a brisk walk after dinner, walking/running up and down the stairs in your building at lunch or sitting on a stationary bike while you watch tv. Get out and get that heart going!

I would love to know if you are surprised at your heart’s age.  What have you decided to do to get your heart’s age lower? I know I’m going to check it again in a couple of months and hope that it gets younger!

Keep it Beautiful.

 

 

Disclosure - Although this post has been sponsored by Shoppers Drug Mart Inc., the opinions and language are all my own, and in no way do they reflect the views, opinions or positions of Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. or its affiliates or licensees. Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. makes no representation as to accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information within this blog post and will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information or for any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use.