Simple steps you can take to help prevent eight common health conditions

Our lifestyles impact on every area of our health, with 40% of all deaths caused by everyday habits and behaviours, according to Public Health England.

Here Michele O’Connor explores some simple but effective steps you can take to prevent common conditions

Heart disease

■ Stand up: For each hour a day that we spend sitting down during our lifetime, the likelihood of developing heart disease goes up by 14%, say scientists from the Medical College of Wisconsin, US. Walk while you
talk on the phone.

■ See a hygienist regularly: Neglecting dental health can be a significant risk factor for heart disease. Harmful oral bacteria can enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of inflammatory effects elsewhere. Research suggests that having your teeth professionally cleaned annually can reduce the risk of heart attacks by 24%.

■ Eat an apple a day: Oxford University researchers found eating just one piece of fruit each day lowered the risk of a heart attack (or stroke) by one third over the seven-year study period, compared with people who never or rarely ate fruit.

■ Snack on nuts: A study of over 200,000 people found those who ate nutrient-rich unsalted nuts at least twice a week were 23% less likely to develop coronary
heart disease.

Infertility

■ Switch to herbal teas: Studies have suggested that caffeine can prevent an egg from maturing properly, and since a less mature egg may not fertilise successfully, this can affect the chances of falling pregnant.

■ Try natural pain remedies: Some over-the-counter pills, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, can affect conception if taken around the time of ovulation. They may suppress hormones called prostaglandins, which help release eggs into the Fallopian tube.

■ Book a beach holiday: Exposure to sunlight and vitamin D can boost the chances of conception by as much as a third, say Belgian scientists. And an Italian study revealed that sperm is twice as active in sunny July and August compared to January.

■ Don’t over-exercise: “This may send signals to the brain that we are under stress, which in turn may slow or even shut down the reproductive organs temporarily,” warns Sandra Greenbank, nutritional therapist and fertility specialist. Men who have frequent, intense exercise schedules, as opposed to those who exercise more moderately three times a week, can have lower quality sperm. “Try yoga, Pilates and swimming instead of spinning or running long distances.”

■ Wear boxers: Tight clothing around the testes can increase the temperature in the region. But even small increases can cause problems for sperm quality, as the ideal temperature for sperm production is about 1-2C lower than body temperature. And don’t keep your laptop on your lap or mobile phone in your trouser pocket.

■ Try oysters: They’re a great source of zinc which has been shown to increase testosterone levels, a hormone which is very important when it comes to sperm count and sperm motility.

Cancer

■ Get on the scales: Excess weight is linked to at least 12 cancers and could overtake smoking as the leading cause of cancer within two decades.

■ Eat more plants: A diet rich in vegetables, fruit and pulses is linked to a reduced cancer risk. The fibre content alone can reduce bowel cancer by 20%.

■ Move more: Around 3,400 cancer cases a year are linked to being physically inactive. Besides keeping your weight down, exercise can reduce levels of hormones, including oestrogen, which is thought to fuel some forms of breast and womb cancers.

■ Be wise with booze: Alcohol doesn’t just increase the risk of liver cancer but seven other types of cancer, too, including bowel, breast and mouth or throat. Have some alcohol-free days each week, swapping every other alcoholic drink with a soft drink and choosing lower-alcohol options.

Dementia

■ Eat like a Viking: The Nordic way of eating has anti-inflammatory benefits so choosing seafood, wholegrains and nuts may reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia by up to 30%, according to a recent Chinese study.

■ Find 17 spare minutes a day: What’s good for the heart is good for the brain. In fact, a recent Florida study found just one hour of exercise a week – or 17 minutes a day – could help stave off dementia and reverse mental decline if kept up for at least six months.

■ Get your hearing tested: Even mild hearing loss increases the long-term risk of cognitive decline and dementia in people over 55, according to a study published in The Lancet.

Type 2 diabetes

■ Switch to wholegrains: Swedish researchers who examined tens of thousands of individuals over many years found that the risk of diabetes was 22% lower for the women – and 34% lower for men who ate the most wholegrains each day. Choose brown rice, wholewheat pasta and wholemeal bread over white varieties.

■ Watch your waistline: It is waist size – not weight – that’s the greatest risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, say Diabetes UK. A waist measurement of more than 37in for a man and 34in for a woman signals excess fat in the abdominal area, around the liver and pancreas. This can cause insulin resistance, increasing your chance of having high blood glucose.

■ Make scrambled eggs for breakfast: Eating four eggs a week can slash your risk by 37%, according to a Finnish study which examined the eating habits of those aged 42 to 60. It’s thought that the nutrients in eggs could affect glucose metabolism .

■ Go to bed earlier: Those at risk of diabetes who slept for five hours or less per night were 70% more likely to develop the condition over two years compared to adults who clocked up seven hours, found researchers. Lack of sleep appears to increase the body’s production of the stress hormone cortisol, which can lead to insulin resistance.

Parkinson’s disease

■ Enjoy your morning coffee: Canadian scientists found that compounds called phenylindanes produced during the coffee roasting process impede the merging of amyloid beta and tau proteins, which are found in the brains of patients suffering from Parkinson’s (and Alzheimer’s).

■ Ditch the dairy: It appears to be a risk factor, possibly due to the presence of small quantities of pesticides and/or environmental toxins or because dairy products generally lower uric acid levels. Research has shown that uric acid can offer some protection against the onset of Parkinson’s in men.

■ Get outside: A review of 20 studies found that those with higher levels of vitamin D seemed to have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. Interestingly, for those individuals who
had already been diagnosed, vitamin D3 helped to stabilise the disease for a short period of time.

High blood pressure

■ Try a DASH diet: The Dietary Approach to Stopping Hypertension (DASH) is based on a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet – rich in olive oil, garlic, fruit, vegetables, nuts, low-fat dairy products, fish and chicken, and low in red meat, sugar and refined carbohydrates. Visit dashdiet.org for more information.

■ Chill out: Those who listened to a 12-minute relaxation CD of a calming voice or crashing waves three times a week for four months showed an average blood pressure drop of 6.4%, said researchers at an American Heart Association conference.

■ Mix up your juice: Don’t stick rigidly to a glass of orange juice each morning. Drinking antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice daily for four weeks can reduce blood pressure. And a British Heart Foundation trial found a daily 250ml of beetroot juice, which contains nitrates, could significantly lower blood pressure in people with hypertension.

■ Add spinach to meals: The potassium-rich vegetable can help to balance out the salt levels in the body, providing more support for the kidneys. Guidelines from the American Heart Association state: “The more potassium you eat, the more sodium you lose through urine. Potassium also helps to ease tension in your blood vessel walls, which helps further lower blood pressure.” Bananas and sweet potatoes are also high in potassium.

Stroke

■ Ditch fizzy drinks: A new study involving 80,000 women found guzzling two cans of sugar-free fizzy drinks per day could increase a woman’s risk of a stroke by a whopping 31% when compared to women who rarely drank them. (It’s unclear which specific artificial sweeteners are so damaging or why).

■ Check your pulse: An irregular heartbeat could be a sign of atrial fibrillation (AF), which can increase the risk of stroke by up to six times, says GP and stroke prevention advocate Dr Yassir Javaid. Stroke affects around 1.5 million Brits so see your GP if you’re concerned.

■ Give blood: A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found subjects aged between 43 and 61 had fewer heart attacks and strokes when they donated blood every six months, probably because donating blood reduces the blood’s viscosity or “thickness”.