What was your wake-up call?

Ahmed was in his late forties when he had his first heart attack. He was working on his computer at home when he suddenly experienced severe chest pain. He initially thought it was muscle pain but taking a breath became difficult and very painful.

His wife saw that and drove him to the hospital where he was told it was a heart attack. A few hours later he was lying in bed at the intensive care unit with drips and wires coming out of his body.

He was shocked and confused and kept asking himself “How did this happen to me? Was this because of my work? What if I die now? Who will take care of my family?

The following morning his doctor came and reassured him that his heart would be fine after removing the small clots that caused the pain and advised him to “take it easy and watch your health”.

A few days later he was back at home resting most of the time but his worries were far from over.

He became anxious that the pain would come again and kept avoiding simple tasks like walking to the nearby mosque or sitting in the outside garden.

Heart diseases are becoming more common as modern life means that people move less and consume large amounts of unhealthy food that gets delivered to their doorsteps. Yet another factor that can increase your risk of heart disease is stress. Studies suggest that long-term stress can increase blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar levels.

It can also increase your risk of having high blood pressure which eventually harm your heart.

New studies also showed that your mental health can also affect your heart. Mental health problems such as depression, social isolation, and lack of quality social support carry the same risk as other factors such as smoking, high cholesterol levels, and hypertension.

Stress can also affect our eating and sleeping habits as some of us tend to eat more carbohydrates when stressed and sleep less.

So what can we do to reduce our risk of developing heart disease? Eating a healthy diet and performing physical exercise comes at the top followed by reducing your stress level. Let us agree that daily stress cannot be avoided so we need to manage our stress since we can’t entirely avoid it.

Plan your day ahead and learn basic time management skills, avoid being a perfectionist as this tends to keep you on edge all the time.

Take frequent and small breaks from work to relax. Take a break locally or abroad if you can afford it. Remember that work should not dominate your life.

Learn to switch off social media every day at least one hour before going to bed and avoid looking at your mobile phone the moment you wake up.

Building small healthy habits can take time and effort but it’s worth it.

Surround yourself with positive people who are happy to see you succeed in life and not the negative-minded ones who keep comparing you with others and set unrealistic expectations so they can enjoy seeing you fall.

Have achievable goals and review them to make sure they are in line with your values in life. Watch after your physical and mental health in order to get better quality of life.