Ways to take care of your heart in the WFH era

Working from home has become the new normal. With the pandemic surge, companies are allowing their employees to work from home to ensure their well-being. Work from home can bring employees great comfort but can also have an adverse effect on their heart health.

According to the Economic Times1, ‘72% of corporate employees are prone to heart disease’. The survey further reveals that night shift workers have 52% more risk than day workers of suffering a stroke or heart attack.

We spend hours and hours sitting on our desk, and staring at screens. Not just your physical health, many employees claim to experience mental health problems like high anxiety and depression.

A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)2 in August revealed that those who suffered a severe heart attack were more than twice as likely to die from it during the pandemic in the US as compared to previous years as hospitalisations and checkups began to decline February onwards. When coupled with anxiety and unhealthy eating, work from home became a disaster for numerous employees.

However, there are several ways we can fight the increasing risk of Cardiovascular disease in the work from home age. Small yet significant lifestyle changes can completely transform your heart health and provide you a peace of mind.

Best Ways to Improve Heart Health During Working From Home

Eat Home Cooked Meal

Takeout is a big no-no during this time. A healthy diet plan is very vital for keeping your body healthy and fit, and so for the heart as well. Make sure you are eating food full of nutrients and roughage that is easily digestible.

Avoid eating packed snacks as much as you can, replace sugary drinks with real fruit juices, choose nuts over chips, wafers, etc. These small changes in your food habits will prove to be very beneficial for your body. Cooking is also a stress-booster for your mind and provides great benefits for your heart health.

Get Moving

Add exercising for at least 30 minutes on your to-do list every day. Work from home has decreased your body, so try to move as much as possible.

Sitting is the new smoking so take breaks and take a small walk around your room. You can do several activities such stretching, cardio, meditation, etc, to help your heart function well. If you can't exercise, you can go for a walk to freshen up your mood.

Have a Break

Working long hours also affect the quality and duration of sleep, appetite, overall heart and your heart. Long working hours aggravate anxiety, depression, and burnout and, as a result, long working hours increase suicidal ideation.

Many of us don't even have a good chair and sitting for long in the same posture affects your health in many ways. Try taking frequent breaks from your work, move your body in that time, talk with your friends and family, or eat something healthy, and do many other things to keep yourself entertained and de-stress.

Avoid Stress and Overtime

Our heart is connected with our brain, just like our other body parts, and putting too much pressure on it increases the risk of the brain as well heart disease. You shouldn't work overtime or take a lot of stress from your work. However, you can't regulate stress, yet you can manage your stress levels by doing activities like meditation, listening to songs, reading books, etc during breaks.

Take An ECG in just 30 seconds

The easiest way to know how your heart is doing, take a medical-grade ECG in just 30 seconds from anywhere, anytime. KardiaMobile 6L is the world’s first and only US FDA cleared 6 lead personal ECG device to record an ECG in mere 30 seconds and detect arrhythmias like Atrial Fibrillation.

Taking a regular ECG will inform you about your heart health and help you prevent the risk of cardiovascular disease before it’s too late. KardiaMobile 6L also connects with your doctor remotely for medical attention in times of need.

References:

1 Dhandeo, K. (2012, September 27). 72% of corporate employees prone to heart disease. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/72-of-corporate-employees-prone-to-heart-disease/articleshow/16572948.cms?from=mdr

2 Growing Epidemic of Coronary Heart Disease in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. (2011). PMC, 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2864143/