Heart Disease Risk Factors
James Brunton
Risk factors are conditions or habits that make you more likely to
develop heart disease. They can increase the chances that an existing
disease will get worse.
While you are unable change some risk factors, others are under your
control and you can change them if you want to.
For instance, you simply cannot do anything about your genes, or the
fact that you are getting older, or that other family members have a
history of heart disease or high cholesterol.
Some of the important risk factors that you can do something about
include alcohol, stress, sleep problems, HRT, smoking and the birth
control pill.
Coronary heart disease happens when the arteries that supply blood to
the heart muscle become hardened and narrowed by the build-up of plaque
on the inner walls, reducing the blood flow. Plaque is an accumulation
of fat, cholesterol and other substances.
The consequences are that an artery can become totally blocked,
preventing oxygen and nutrients getting to part of the heart. Then you
have a heart attack, causing permanent damage to the heart muscle.
It is tempting to believe that surgeons can cure heart disease with a
bypass or angioplasty. Certainly, these procedures help blood flow to
the heart and take away the pain of angina, but they are no cure. The
arteries are still damaged, and your blood vessels will get worse
unless you change your habits and do something about the risk factors.
Make the changes gradually, one at a time, but keep going. It is easy
to think that doing one thing differently means your risk is greatly
diminished. You need to consider doing a range of things to have the
best chances of lowering your risk properly.
It depends on how many risk factors you have. If you smoke and have
high cholesterol, then you need to do something right now, since your
risk of heart disease is real. Start by working on giving up smoking,
something easily said but it can be a prolonged and difficult process.
Then, once you have sorted that, you can look to lowering your
cholesterol.
Stress is a common trigger for heart attacks. An upsetting emotional
event, high-pressure work or home environments, uncontrolled anger can
contribute to stress. People may turn to overeating, excessive drinking
and smoking to try to control their stress, but these do more harm than
good.
Stress-management classes and good personal relationships where you can
share your troubles and feelings, along with regular exercise are good
ways of combating stress. At the same time they lower your risk of
heart disease.
Alcohol in moderation has been shown to lower the risk of heart
disease. Complete abstinence lowers the risk, too, but research has
pointed to moderate consumption protecting against heart disease by
raising HDL cholesterol levels. So, if you avoid drink, this is not an
invitation to start.
Moderation is the key. It is no more than one drink per day for women,
and no more than two drinks per day for men. One drink is about 350ml
of beer, 130ml of wine and 50ml spirits.
Heavy drinking causes more problems, by damaging heart muscle leading
to heart failure, and a higher risk of heart disease than either
non-drinkers or moderate drinkers. Even three drinks a day can raise
blood pressure and triglyceride levels, and binge drinking can lead to
stroke.
Sleep Apnoea is a serious condition where a sufferer often stops
breathing for a short time while asleep. People with this condition are
more likely to develop high blood pressure, heart attack, congestive
heart failure and stroke.
It tends to develop in middle age, with men being twice as likely as
women to suffer. Things such as obesity, smoking, alcohol and taking
sleeping tablets contribute to it.
HRT has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease in trials.
This does not affect every version of HRT, or every woman, but you and
your doctor need to discuss your risks before starting treatment.
Birth Control Pill may worsen the effects of other risk factors
including high cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and
obesity. Once more, involve your doctor in discussions before you
start.
James Brunton has spent more than thirty years as a pharmacist and
brings his vast experience to the integrated health scene. Get a free
tips booklet on foods and supplements by subscribing to his newsletter
at http://www.healthexplored.co.uk
Back To:
All Free Info about Heart & Circulatory System Health
Find More Free Natural Health Information
Choose Natural Health Site Map
