Keeping our hearts healthy is important, but how do we do it? Fortunately the answers to this are very clear. Being overweight, particularly if you carry the weight around your waist, puts spare strain on the heart. To find out if you have a problem you need to know your height to weight ratio (WHR). To work this out measure round your waist in centimetres and divide it by your hip circumference. The measurements need to be in centimetres, so if your measuring tape is in inches, multiply each measurement by 2.5 before dividing one by the other. If the figure you end up with is greater than 0.9 for men and 0.8 for women then your fat distribution is likely to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Tony Howarth What is... Blood Pressure? A free report from www.TheHighwayToHealth.com. (This article is an extract of the full PDF acquirable at the preceding URL.) * What's wrong with higher blood pressure?* High blood pressure shows doctors what else is on in your body. Years of experience and research tell doctors that higher blood pressure is a sign of other problems including:

• Angina
• Heat Attack
• Heart Failure (it doesn't work as well as it should)
• Stroke

If you can reduce your blood pressure, you can reduce the chances of these problems. There's a free report at http://www.thehighwaytohealth.com/ that goes in to much detail about what exactly 'blood pressure' is, and what the numbers mean. What is too high? Your doctor will normally ready a target, depending upon your personal medical history, conditions, etc. If you don't already have a target set, or have not had problems with your blood pressure, then a good guide is 140/100. If you're regularly getting a reading above this, see your doctor. An 'ideal' target is 120/80.