What is it?

 

The heart is basically a double pump. Each pump consists of two chambers.
The pumping is performed by muscle that needs to be fed by oxygen and other nutrients. These nutrients are carried by blood.
Blood is pumped out of the heart into the lung’s circulation, where it picks up oxygen. This oxygen- rich blood then returns to the heart, and is pumped out of the heart to the body, in order to supply the body with oxygen. When the blood had travelled around the body supplying it with oxygen, it then returns to the heart, and the cycle starts again!
In a healthy heart, the pump is well supplied with blood, and works efficiently
The following activities help with this

How to have a healthy heart?

In order to have a healthy heart, blood supply to the heart, and the ability of the muscle to act as a pump are vital

Three important ways that you can help this to happen are:

1. Exercise:
   As a goal, try to have between 3-5 sessions of exercise a week for 20- 30 minutes. This could include any exercise where you work up a sweat, or become short of breath. Walking is ideal, though a brisk walk, rather than a slow stroll is recommended. It is better than one long walk on the weekend.
   
2. Diet:
   Try to consume as five serves of fruit and vegetables as you can in a day. This may mean, orange juice for breakfast, with a piece of fruit, some fruit for morning tea, a salad sandwich, or a piece of fruit with lunch, and vegetables with dinner, and tinned fruit for dessert. Not so hard! Lower your salt content gradually, until you don’t need any at all Cook with monounsaturated oils, such as olive oil, or better still grill food as much as possible. Have 2 portions of fish a week , especially oily fish such as mackeral which contain fish oils that are very good for your heart. Avoid foods high in fat, which increases cholesterol levels
3. Stop smoking:
   Smoking has a major impact on blocking arteries.

2 common problems with the heart

Heart attack (also called myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis) A blockage in the heart's arteries may reduce or completely cut off the blood supply to a portion of the heart. This can cause a blood clot to form and totally stop blood flow in a coronary artery, resulting in a heart attack (also called an acute myocardial infarction or MI).
Angina is short for “angina pectoris,” which in Latin means “pain of the chest.” More specifically, angina is pain originating from the heart when it doesn’t get enough oxygen, which is caused by poor blood flow.