Coronary heart disease is to blame for approximately 1.2 million heart attacks that take place in the United States every year. Of these 1.2 million people, more than 40 percent of them will fall victim to a heart attack that will be fatal. But the numbers get even scarier from there. An estimated 335,000 individuals who suffer heart attacks will die en-route to the hospital or else will not leave the emergency room alive. The American Heart Association estimates that in the United States, 7 million people will suffer a heart attack at some point in their lives.
Heart disease is very prevalent and is becoming more and more so in society. Very often heart disease is known as the silent killer because it shows no obvious symptoms and it sneaks up on a person completely unannounced. It is critically important to become educated about the factors that make one person more susceptible to developing this disease over another. The risk factors can be broken down into those that are controllable and those that are not. Lets take a look at both.
As far as risk factors that cannot be controlled, men are more likely to suffer heart attacks than are women and the risk of heart disease increases with age. For example a 50 or 60-year-old man is more likely to become afflicted than is a 30 or 35-year-old man. This is not to say however than women never suffer from heart disease but it is less widespread in women. When women do suffer from it, it is usually women who are past menopause.
Those with a family history of heart attacks and heart conditions are more likely to suffer from it, as there is a genetic connection that has been borne out by research. Certain races of people are more likely to be afflicted than others. For example, Caucasians are less likely to suffer from this disease than are African Americans, African Indians and finally, Mexican Americans.
But there is some good news as there are factors related to heart disease that are within a persons control. Cholesterol rates can be influenced by the foods you consume and how much exercise you get on a regular basis. What is known as bad cholesterol is a high level of LDL and good cholesterol is known as HDL. You must aim to keep your HDL as high as possible and your LDL as low as possible. Smoking is another controllable risk factor involved with heart disease. If you smoke, try to kick the habit and if you do not smoke, then good for you, never start.
A complete or partial lack of exercise can increase your chance of developing heart disease. Aim for at least 20 to 30 minutes of physical activity every day or at least every second day for starters. Obesity can play a role in heart disease and be aware that you are considered to be obese if you are more than an estimated 20% over what is deemed your ideal weight. Another controllable risk factor is anger and stress that has been allowed to build up over an extended period of time. Seek out ways to improve your coping mechanisms.
Diabetes can be a real threat to the cardiovascular system. It comes on slowly and can wreak havoc with the bodies systems before the individual knows that they even have diabetes. Diabetes can cause harm not only to the cardiovascular system but the eyes, the nerves, the kidneys, and impede the healing process. A clinical sign that someone may have diabetes is that they may have a difficult time healing from the slightest of skin injuries. People that have diabetes are at a two to four fold increase to developing heart disease or having a stroke. The advantage that pre-menopausal women have over men is diminished when they have diabetes. (1)
According to Christopher Saudek, M.D professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimoore and past president of The American Diabetes Association (ADA), having diabetes is such a strong risk factor for heart disease that it is equivalent to already having had a heart attack. Just why diabetes causes heart disease on such a destructive is unknown. Dr. Robert H. Eckel, M.K., professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Denver and past president of the American Heart Association., says it is a complicated connection.
From a physics standpoint, it can be seen that the heart is muscle and one that is reposonispible for pumping blood to the entire body. Since muscles need glucose to move and expend energy, it can be inferred what when there is a problem with he functioning of glucose iin the body, there will also be a problem with the heart as well.
There are those people that are insulin resistant. This implies that their bodies do not respond to insulin like other people. Insulin is responsible for putting sugar or glucose back into the cells instead of having it run rampant throughout the system. "Insulin resistance leads to vascular dysfunction, which indicate that there is an altering of the function of the blood vessels to respond normally to the bodies hormonal signals that tell veins to expand and or contract," notes, David M. Nathan, M.D. , professor medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Massachusetts general hospital Diabetes Center. It also leads to systemic, inflammation, as measured by levels of C=reactive protein and inflammatory cytokines. In this scenario, when type 2 diabetes develops there is a system of cascading events that effects many systems and causing such untoward effects such as high blood pressure, kidney disease, and heart disease.
Given as such wide spread evidence on the effects of diabetes on the cardiovascular system and other body functions, the reality of taking precautionary health measures becomes important. An estimated two out of every three adults with diabetes have hypertension. Diabetic dyslipidemia requires frequent blood work so that the individual knows what their levels of good cholesterol (LDL) and bad cholesterol (HDL) are. When the two are out of sync, a condition called atherosclerotic heat disease can occur. These people are usually candidates for heart bypass surgery, since their arteries become clogged.
In summary, those people with diabetes should take an active role in controlling their disease process. They can do this by getting regular fasting blood glucose levels and having their HDL and LDL tested. Normal values of these cholesterol levels are as follows; total cholesterol should be under 200; LDL under 200 and HDL above 50 for women, 40 for men, and triglycerides below 150. if your LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels are also at desirable levels and you have no other risk factors for heart disease, total blood cholesterol below 200 mg/dL puts you at relatively low risk of coronary heart disease. Even with a low risk, however, it is still smart to eat a health diet, avoid tobacco smoke and try to exercise daily... Have your cholesterol levels checked every five years or as your doctor recommends, and get regular fasting blood glucose levels. This preventative health maintenance should help increase your lifespan and provide many healthy and fulfilling years.
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