Heartsavers - Introduction
Here we describe the well known risk factors that can lead to
heart disease, life style changes can help with all except genetic factors.
An explanation of the risk factors.
The risk factors for heart disease
The major risk factors in coronary heart disease are:
Genetic Factors
There is not much we can do about our genetic inheritance so we need not dwell on the subject for too long. It's worth pointing out that even though there may be a history of heart disease in your family it does not necessarily mean that you will be affected. The risk factors multiply together so if you are doing everything else right, there is less chance of the genetic factor coming into play. In any case it might not be anything to do with your genes, it could be the case that you share an unhealthy lifestyle with your family.
Women are less likely to suffer an heart attack up to the menopause, it seems that female hormones may offer some form of protection, but the process is not yet fully understood. After the menopause a woman's risk gradually catches up with men and after the age of 75 the numbers are about equal.
Smoking
Well known as a risk factor for heart disease. It constricts your arteries, makes your blood sticky and more likely to form a clot, robs your body of vitamins and costs you a lot of money.
Raised Cholesterol
The higher your intake of fat, particularly animal and dairy fat, the higher your blood cholesterol level will be. This in turn leads to the build up of fatty plaque on the walls of your arteries.
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure causes damage to the lining of the arteries and accelerates the build up of fatty plaque in the arteries. Also it causes extra stress on the heart by forcing it to work harder to pump blood.
Unfortunately, high blood pressure usually produces no symptoms, so it is a good idea to have it checked from time to time.
Taking regular exercise, adopting a healthy diet and management of stress can all help to reduce high blood pressure.
Diabetes
A fairly common disease affecting around 3% of the UK population, once it was almost invariably fatal, but can now be treated through insulin injections to control the symptoms. It can exacerbate the problem of high blood cholesterol. Good control of diet is extremely important in this condition.
Obesity
A modern day epidemic and a very serious problem. There is really only one way to lose weight effectively and that is gradually, aim to lose no more than a couple of pounds per week. Any more than this and you will feel hungry and your body will go into famine mode and use the calories you consume more efficiently. If you feel hungry all the time you will eventually eat more and gain more weight than you would have had you not starved yourself. You need to eat not less food, but concentrate on eating the right type of food, less fat, more complex carbohydrates, more fibre. This combined with a sensible exercise programme should result in gradual sustainable weight loss until you reach your desired weight level.
Stress
In some ways the most difficult problem to solve. Very often a stress sufferer does not realise that they have a problem. In a later section we provide plenty of help and advice to reduce the stress in your life.
The problem really is chronic stress, that is a succession of stressful events occurring one after the other with no time to recover between.
This produces hormones in the bloodstream that constrict the arteries, unfortunately if you already have narrowing of the arteries the effect is multiplied by chronic stress.
Lack of Exercise
Regular exercise will enable you to metabolise fats more efficiently, thus lowering your blood cholesterol, reduce your blood pressure, and help to relieve stress - as you exercise your body produces morphine-like substances producing a feel good factor. Most of the health benefits can be gained by moving from a sedentary lifestyle to a modest exercise programme. Just 30 minutes per day of brisk walking can reduce your risk of heart disease substantially.