How Healthy is Your Heart?

Why Choose BJC HealthCare for Heart Care?

Your heart can’t wait. Heart care includes regular visits with your primary care doctor and/or cardiologist. Our office locations expand across the St. Louis region and include a team of over 80 cardiologists and 75 primary care physicians ready to support you on your heart health journey.

Expertise

From routine office visits to more complex care, our team of heart experts bring together their skill and knowledge to treat all types of cardiovascular disease. Specializing in a range of treatment options, our physicians focus on providing the most effective treatment plan for each individual person.

Experience

Our heart care team of cardiologists, electrophysiologists, interventionalists and surgeons collaborate on your care to help you achieve the best outcome. Our physicians use your medical history, current condition, and other individual factors to make a diagnosis and develop a personalized treatment plan for you.

To schedule an appointment, call 314-273-2315 or fill out a contact form and we will connect you to a heart specialist.

Take the Heart Health Quiz

Answer questions about your heart health to understand your risk for heart disease.

SHOULD I BE CONCERNED ABOUT MY HEART HEALTH?

Your lifestyle habits may be putting you at risk for heart disease.
Review the Signs

Do I need a Cardiologist appointment?

Not every patient who sees a cardiologist will need heart surgery.

Stress affects blood pressure

Could your lifestyle be contributing to your high blood pressure?

High blood pressure, or hypertension, increases your risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Many people do not know they have high blood pressure because it often has no symptoms or warning signs. Knowing your blood pressure numbers can help you understand your risk for heart disease and manage your blood pressure. Learn more about your risk for heart disease by taking our free heart health assessment.

Is my blood pressure good or bad?

A blood pressure reading includes two numbers and is read as “120 over 80,” for example. The first number is called the systolic pressure and the second number is the diastolic pressure. The systolic number measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart squeezes or contracts, while the diastolic number measures the pressure between heartbeats.

Blood Pressure Category Systolic (Upper number Diastolic (lower number)
Normal Less than 120 and Less than 80
Elevated 120 - 129 and Less than 80
High - Stage 1 130 - 139 or 80 - 89
High - Stage 2 140 or Higher or 90 or Higher
 

What causes high blood pressure?

Nearly 50% of adults in the United States have high blood pressure. Several risk factors contribute to high blood pressure. Some risk factors, including gender, age and family history, are uncontrollable while other risk factors can be modified with lifestyle changes.

Lifestyle changes can significantly reduce your blood pressure and lower your risk for heart disease. Incorporate heart-healthy habits by making these changes in your daily life.

  • Regularly Monitor Blood Pressure: High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Regularly monitor your blood pressure, whether at the doctor’s office or at home. Click here for tips on how to properly manage your blood pressure at home.
  • Manage Weight: Being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing high blood pressure. Losing unhealthy weight is one of the most effective lifestyle changes to reduce your blood pressure and improve your heart function and metabolism.
  • Get Active: Less than 30 minutes per day of physical activity can lower your blood pressure. And physical activity doesn’t have to be traditional exercise. Find an activity you enjoy — like dancing, hiking or swimming.
  • Eat a Heart-Healthy Diet: Essential in preventing heart disease, a heart-healthy diet can lower your blood pressure if you have hypertension. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, foods rich in lean protein such as chicken and plant-based proteins as well as fish, and limit daily intake of salts, sugars, red meat and fatty foods.
  • Limit Your Alcohol Consumption: Drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol can increase your blood pressure and reduce the effectiveness of blood pressure medications. Limiting your alcohol consumption to two drinks a day for men and one for women can lower your blood pressure.
  • Stop Smoking: Smoking can increase your heart rate and blood pressure to dangerously high levels. Quitting helps your blood pressure return to normal.
  • Reduce Stress: Managing stress is a part of daily life. Ongoing stress can contribute to high blood pressure if you react by drinking, smoking or eating unhealthy food. Reduce your stress by identifying what factors are causing the stress. Then, take steps to manage the stress more effectively in a healthier way by limiting alcohol, incorporating physical activity and prioritizing time to relax.

What should I do if my blood pressure reading is high?

Prioritizing your heart health can be challenging, but BJC HealthCare is here to help. Call 314-273-2315 to schedule an appointment today with one of our primary care providers or heart specialists.

Call 911 immediately if you are experiencing chest pain, shortness of breath, numbness, fatigue or a change in vision and your blood pressure is 180/120 or higher.

How Your Heart Works


Watch this video to learn more about how your heart helps your body grow, heal and recover.


 

Meet our Patients


Warning signs of heart attacks

Know the warning signs of a Heart Attack

Tanya English was physically fit and led an active lifestyle. Having a heart attack seemed an unlikely event for her. But when the warning signs were there, she knew to seek help.
Robert Malon

DON'T IGNORE THE WARNING SIGNS

When Robert Malon, 74, of O’Fallon, Mo., was experiencing drainage and congestion in his chest, he went to see his BJC primary care physician.
Courtney Ewert heart story

Heart Transplant to Triathlon

Courtney Ewert knew something in her body felt odd, but she gave it little thought until she began losing weight. “I noticed over a few weeks that my size was smaller and when I weighed myself, the change was not normal.”
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Client
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Request a Consultation


To schedule an appointment, call 314-273-2315 or fill out the form below and we will connect you with a heart specialist that fits your unique needs.