By Neil Doyle

February is Heart Month and a health professional at OSF St. James is reminding people to take care of it.

“Your heart is one of the most important organs in the body and the strongest muscle in the body,” said Matt Janus, an exercise physiologist and wellness coordinator. “The heart has so much to do with so many different processes in the body.”

Janus told WJEZ’s Todd Wineburner that the two big risk factors for maintaining a healthy heart are things you can and can’t control.

Things that can’t be controlled are age and family history of heart disease. What can be controlled is not smoking, exercising, maintaining a healthy diet, and getting blood work done frequently.

“The more you move the better…any type of movement or exercise will help the heart. For example just walking 20-30 minutes a day is a great place to start,” Janus added.

For more tips to manage a healthy heart visit osfhealthcare.org.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]