March 28, 2024

Six heart health numbers you should know

Your heart is the center of your vascular system and is vitally responsible for just about everything that keeps your body moving and feeling good. The heart is a pump that circulates oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Saurabh Aggarwal, MD, cardiologist with UnityPoint Clinic, tells us the six heart health numbers you should know to keep your heart health in check.

Resting Heart Rate

Normal is considered to be between 60 and 100 beats per minute with the ideal being between 50 to 70 beats per minute. Dr. Aggarwal says you can find out your resting heart rate by feeling your radial artery pulse at the wrist or carotid artery pulse in the neck. Changes to the resting heart rate, as long as they are within the normal range are likely of no concern. However, persistent heart rates greater than 100 or less than 50 may require further discussion with your health care provider.

LDL or “Bad Cholesterol”

Normal is considered to be less than 130, with less than 100 being optimal and less than 70 being ideal. Heredity plays a role in baseline cholesterol and there are some genetic traits that increase a person’s risk of developing abnormal cholesterol numbers and heart disease. Knowing your family history of cholesterol problems, can help your health care provider assess your risk of developing future conditions.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Normal is considered to be 18-25, overweight is considered to be 25-30 and obese is greater than 30.

Systolic Blood Pressure

The top number of the blood pressure reading. Normal is considered to be less than 130.

Hemoglobin A1c

A marker of how much sugar is in the blood that helps to diagnose diabetes. Normal is considered less than six percent.

Waist Circumference

Normal is considered to be less than 35 inches for women and less than 40 inches for men. Dr. Stark says waist circumference and BMI are good measures of overall health. They both speak to body composition, or the relative measure of lean muscle to unhealthy fat. Too much fat has been demonstrated to correlate to increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Dr. Aggarwal suggests most people get these health numbers checked every six months to one year, at a doctor’s office. He says they may need to be check more frequently, if the results are out of range or if you’re taking corrective medication.

“Good quality, restful sleep in an appropriate amount does impact heart health in multiple ways. In general, poor sleep leads to a change in metabolism, often leading to weight gain,” Dr. Aggarwal says. “Furthermore, poor sleep leads to fatigue during the day, which certainly makes a person less apt to have the energy to exercise and be active.”

Schedule an appointment with your provider to learn your numbers. If you have a family history of cardiovascular disease ask if you should see a cardiologist.

Dr. Aggarwal is seeing patients in our Story County clinic. Our other UnityPoint Clinic cardiologists are holding outreach clinics in Ankeny, Boone, Indianola, Jefferson, Nevada, Osceola and Perry.Visit www.unitypoint.org to schedule an appointment.