Know your heart health numbers

Knowing and understanding key health numbers allow you and your health care team to determine your risk for developing heart disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. It is important to review this information every few months, or at least annually. 

But what are these key heart health numbers? The first is blood pressure. This is a measure of how hard your blood pushes against your arteries as it moves through your body. High blood pressure occurs when the force of your blood against the walls of your blood vessels is consistently too high. Healthy lifestyles can reduce the risk of high blood pressure, which makes the heart work harder and less efficiently. 

Your blood pressure reading will fall into one of these four categories: 

• Normal: Blood pressure readings of less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury, or mmHg. 
• Elevated: Readings consistently ranging from 120-129 systolic and less than 80 mmHg diastolic. 
• Hypertension stage 1: Readings ranging from 130-139 systolic or 80-89 mmHg diastolic. 
• Hypertension stage 2: Readings consistently ranging at 140/90 mmHg or higher. High blood pressure is harmful because it makes the heart work harder and less efficiently. 

You can have high blood pressure for years without experiencing any symptoms. Fortunately, high blood pressure easily can be detected. 

The second important number you should know is your cholesterol. This waxy substance is found in all your cells and travels throughout your body in your blood. Cholesterol comes from two sources: your liver and the foods you consume. Cholesterol can join with other substances to form a thick, hard deposit on the inside of your arteries, making arteries less flexible. Sometimes these deposits can break suddenly and form a blockage that causes a heart attack or stroke. When you have high cholesterol, you have too much low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, often called LDL or “bad cholesterol,” and not enough high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or HDL or “good cholesterol.” There are no symptoms of high cholesterol.

• Normal or healthy levels of cholesterol differ, depending on your age and sex:
• People 19 and younger: LDL cholesterol is less than 110 milligrams and HDL is more than 45 milligrams. 
• Men 20 and older: LDL cholesterol is less than 100 milligrams and HDL is more than 40 milligrams. 
• Women 20 and older: LDL cholesterol is less than 100 milligrams and HDL is more than 50 milligrams. 

The third number to understand is your heart rate or pulse. This is the number of times your heart beats per minute. Your resting heart rate is the heart pumping the lowest amount of blood you need because you’re not exercising. If you are sitting or lying down your heart rate is normally between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Your target heart rate is the minimum heart rate to reach the level of energy necessary to give your heart a good workout. 

To find your target heart rate, the first step is determining your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. Your target heart rate for moderate exercise is about 50%-85% of your maximum heart rate. 

Mayo Clinic News Network