Risks of Heart Disease
By: Robert NamTotal Views: 194, Word Count: 815,
About 80 million Americans are suffering from heart diseases and others are having risk factors for the heart diseases. Now-a-days heart disease has become extremely prevalent worldwide. The more risk factors you have, the greater you have the chance of heart diseases.
Major Risk Factors for Heart Diseases (You Cannot Change It)
Older Age – The risk factor for heart diseases gradually increase with old age. Over 83 percent of people who die because of heart diseases are 60 to 65yrs older. In old age, women tend to die more due to heart attack or heart disease as compared to men.
Gender – Men get heart problems or heart attack in an early age of their life. Often women have a less chances of heart diseases.
Heredity (Family background) – A person’s genetic inheritance cannot be changed. Heredity prepares a background for most of the heart diseases. Probably, every person has a different genetic background.
We tend to inherit some of the things from our relatives or ancestors like blood pressure levels, cholesterol level, diabetes, blood clotting, body build and response to the stress level. If your family has a history of heart diseases than you should remember that you have this tendency to inherit.
Risk Factors for Heart Disease, Which You Can Control, or Change of
Tobacco and Smoking – Almost everyone knows that smoking increases the risk for cancer, but very few people know that it also increases the risk of heart diseases. Every year many people die due to the effect of smoking on the blood vessels and heart. Research has shown that smoking tends to increase the heart rate and tightens the arteries. This creates an irregularity in heartbeat rate and makes the heart work harder.
Smoking raises blood pressure too, which leads to risk of high blood pressure and finally a heart disease. Nicotine and other chemical compound used in cigarette are very harmful for the health of heart. These chemicals build a fatty plaque in the arteries, which leads to injury of the blood vessel walls. Smoking increases the risk of blood clot, which leads to heart attack.
High blood cholesterol level – Cholesterol is a fatty substance carried all around in your body through your blood plasma. Extra cholesterol enters in your body when you eat products like meat, egg, and dairy products. Results of which are, increase in cholesterol level and the risk of heart diseases.
When the other risk factors such as high blood pressure and the smoking are already present, this risk increases at a greater level. The age, sex, diet, and heredity of the particular person also affects cholesterol level.
High blood pressure- High blood pressure puts an extra strain on heart to work harder. It causes the heart to become thicken and stiffer. It invites many problems related to heart.
When high blood pressure exits with high blood cholesterol level, obesity, diabetes, and smoking, it increases the risk of heart diseases like heart attack and stroke.
Physical inactivity – People who are not active in their daily life, involves a much higher risk of heart diseases. Performing exercise regularly burns the calories and helps to control the level of cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes. Exercise helps in strengthening the heart muscles. Doing exercise regularly will help you live more.
Obesity and over weight- Excess of body fat is like a waste product. Extra weight increases the total cholesterol level, blood pressure level, and higher risk for heart diseases. Obesity increases the risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, diabetes, and heart diseases.
Diabetes- When the glucose level is under control, diabetes increases the risk of heart diseases. However, when the glucose level becomes uncontrollable, the risk increases even at a greater level. Many of the diabetes patient die due to heart diseases. It is extremely important to keep watch over the diabetes in order to live a healthy life.
Other Contributing Risk Factors for the Heart Diseases
Stress level – Stress level is one of the major contributing factors of heart disease. Stress has a higher effect on the heart, which results in several heart diseases. An effect of stress varies form person to person. For example, people in stress will start smoking which will increase the risk of heart disease.
Alcohol – Studies have shown that drinking too much of alcohol leads to increase a greater chance of heart diseases than the non- drinkers. It raises the blood pressure level and causes a heart failure too. It can contribute to triglycerides, cancer, and irregular heartbeats. Moreover, it also contributes to obesity, alcoholism, and accidents.
It is never too late or too early, so from today onwards, you should begin the process of improving your heart’s health. Some risk factors related to heart diseases can be controlled whereas some cannot. However, controlling the risk factors helps to increase your life.
About the Author
Dr. Robert Nam is a well known heart specialist and has done postgraduate training in cardiology at the national heart hospital, the London chest hospital and UCL hospital, London. He was also engaged in research at the national heart and lung institute. Nowadays he is working as a consultant cardiologist at UCL hospital, London.
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