According to the American Heart Association, coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women. Rather than scare you, our aim is to make sure you know how important it is to hold your heart in the highest regard. From websites and apps to tests and tools, we’ve rounded up a variety of high-tech health tools you need to ensure you stay heart-healthy this year and beyond.
Heart health websites
www.GoRedForWomen.org
People concerned with how their overall health may be affecting their heart could benefit from the Better U Program, a free 12-week online fitness and nutrition program aimed at improving heart health. Get daily health tips, track your progress, access nutritious recipes, use the online journal and connect with other health-conscious participants on the forum.
www.HeartHealthyOnline.com
At Heart Healthy Living, users can access a multitude of up-to-date information and heart health resources. From healthy recipes to quizzes that help assess risk of heart disease to at-home workouts for all fitness levels, anyone concerned about overall health and wellness will find this site useful.
www.AliveCor.com
On the horizon is the iPhoneECG, a device that turns the iPhone 4 into a heart monitor. Oklahoma physician Dr. David Albert invented a slim case that fits over the iPhone, featuring low-power electrodes; when pressed against the chest or fingers, it displays the electrical activity of a person’s heart. The device can be used to detect heart blockage, unstable heartbeat and can monitor heart rate at rest and during exercise.
Online heart health tests and quizzes
Nothing you do at home should replace a trip to the doctor’s office, but these heart healthy sites can help you get a general idea of heart health risk factors.
- Assess your risk of heart attack with The American Heart Association’s test at www.Heart.org.
- Find your ideal target heart rate with Mayo Clinic’s heart rate calculator.
- Take the RealAge test to find out where you can improve your overall health and wellness.
- Get a refresher on how the heart works with Discovery Health’s heart health quiz.
Heart health apps
It seems like every day more and more health-related apps are released. We found several options for ensuring a healthy heart on the go.
Heart Health News Reader
Heart Health News Reader ($0.99) puts the latest heart health information in the palm of your hand. The app grabs information from around the web and delivers it to your phone.
iHeartRate
iHeartRate ($2.99) is geared more towards measuring and tracking heart rate for optimal fitness. The app allows you to keep track of your resting heart rate and your training heart rates, so you get more out of your workout by achieving your target heart rate.
Heart Log
Heart Log ($0.99) makes it easy for anyone who needs to regularly monitor their heart rate for health reasons to keep track of results. You can add date and time of each reading — results are compiled into a chart for easy analysis.
So if you’ve got access to a computer, you’ve got no excuse for ignoring your heart health.
More heart tips
Heart healthy eating
Joining Shay Pausa is celebrity chef Gale Gand and Dr. Jennifer Mieres. They discuss how the foods we eat affect our heart.
More high-tech health and fitness tools
- Online fitness videos to download today
- Hear how to get fit: Download podcast workouts
- Healthy iPhone apps you can’t live without
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