I'm a heart doctor who sees thousands of preventable deaths - here are five things EVERYONE should do before it's too late
In an Instagram post viewed nearly 500,000 times, Memphis-based medic Dr Dmitry Yaranov warns that sleep, pollution, stress, oral health and diet all play a major role heart health.
'After treating thousands of patients with heart failure, these are the things I wish more people knew before it was too late.
'Here's what's actually affecting your heart—and nobody's talking about it,' he said in the viral video in which he listed the five points in the caption.
'Cardiovascular health isn't just about exercise and salads,' the expert added. 'It's sleep, stress, air, access, and even your gut.'
Getting fewer than eight hours' sleep a night can raise your risk of heart failure, stroke or sudden death, he warned beneath the 30-second clip.
Blood pressure usually drops during sleep—but poor sleep disrupts this, causing sustained high blood pressure, a key driver of heart disease, according to the British Heart Foundation.
Dr Yaranov also noted that daily exposure to air pollution—'breathing in exhaust every day'—can harden the arteries, leading to plaque build-up, restricted blood flow and a higher risk of heart attacks.
Next, he explained that constantly 'pushing through' stress can raise levels of cortisol—the body's main stress hormone—which, in excess, triggers high blood pressure and inflammation that damages blood vessels.
Oral health is another unlikely factor that can cause heart issues, which the doctor added to his list.
Improper care of your teeth can cause gum disease and the inflammation associated with this puts you at a higher risk of heart attack.
Another significant issue he pointed out was that people should also focus more on improving their gut health as the microbiomes help regulate blood pressure and cholesterol.
While living in an area with poor access to healthy food will only lead to worse cardiac outcomes, he then warned.
It comes as an epidemic of the disease has hit young people, experts warned last year.
Early deaths from heart disease hit their highest level in more than a decade, figures revealed. But now obesity, diabetes and undiagnosed high blood pressure are reversing six decades of progress.
Data analysed by the British Heart Foundation shows progress in the battle against the killer condition appears to have come to an end.
The latest figures for 2022 reveal that heart disease killed 80 out of every 100,000 people in England – the highest rate since 2011, when it was 83.
Heart fatalities in the under-75s have risen for three consecutive years.
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