5 Tips for a Healthy Heart

Advice for avoiding heart disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women.  Hear the top five tips for avoiding heart disease from patients, BJC doctors and SCCAD team members. 

1.  Know your risks

Many overall health conditions can be indicative of heart disease.  High blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking all need to be reduced or eliminated. Take our five-minute quiz to find out your risk for heart disease:

2. Get regular checkups

Regular care from your primary care physician means keeping an eye on your blood pressure numbers, weight and other standard measures of health so that any cause for concern can be noted right away. For help finding a primary care physician call 636.928.WELL or see our full listing here.

3. Talk with your doctor

Another benefit of getting regular checkups is getting yourself established with a primary care doctor so that when issues do arise, you have someone to go to immediately.  Cardio patient, Robert, thought he had a common cold.  It turned out, he'd had a heart attack decades earlier that was still causing problems.  Read more of Robert's story.  

4. Be ready to call 911

In an emergency situation, the benefit of calling 911 is having a paramedic start managing your care immediately.  Teams from the St. Charles County Ambulance District and our emergency rooms are in constant contact so there is no delay in your care once you arrive at either Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital or Progress West Hospital. 

5.  Get connected  

Should more advanced care be needed, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters and Progress West Hospitals are part of the BJC HealthCare system, meaning that a seamless transfer can be made to to the heart care team at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.  Read more about how this relationship works.