Many people that are currently suffering from heart disease can not really make out the main causes of the problem. Though doctors have speculated the causes and how to avoid them there are so many other factors that may cause heart disease in people who may not be aware of the risk of the things they do.
In this post, I will take you through the causes of heart disease and things to do in order to avoid it and also the best remedy that will help you avoid the problem.
There are numerous manifestations of cardiovascular disease, including excessive blood pressure, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, stroke, and arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat). The World Health Organization estimates that cardiovascular disease is to blame for half of all fatalities in the United States and more than 17 million deaths worldwide each year.
The main cause of death in America today is coronary artery disease, the most prevalent type of cardiovascular disease. Almost half as many people die from cancer, the second leading cause of mortality.
More than 80 million Americans suffer from a cardiovascular illness of some kind. But thanks to several studies involving thousands of patients, scientists have discovered a number of variables that are crucial in determining a person’s risk of acquiring heart disease. They are referred to as risk factors.
The two types of risk variables are substantial and contributory. It has been established that significant risk factors raise your chance of heart disease. An elevated risk of heart disease might result from contributing risk factors.
Your risk of developing heart disease increases as your risk factors increase. Some risk factors can be treated, controlled, or altered while others cannot. But you may lower your risk of developing heart disease by managing as many risk factors as you can through dietary modifications, prescription drugs, or a combination of the two.
Principal Risk Factors
Blood Pressure Is High (Hypertension)
Your risk of heart disease, a heart attack, and a stroke increases if you have high blood pressure. Your risk of heart disease or stroke significantly rises if you are obese, smoke, or have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
While blood pressure might change with age and activity, a healthy adult’s resting reading should be 120/80.
High Cholesterol Levels
High blood cholesterol is one of the main risk factors for heart disease. All of the cells in your body contain cholesterol, a fatty chemical that is transported in your blood.
All of the cholesterol is required by your body to build cell membranes and some hormones are produced by your liver. When you consume items that come from animals (meats, eggs, and dairy products) or are heavy in saturated fat, extra cholesterol enters your body.
Plaque builds up on artery walls when there is an excessive amount of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, sometimes known as “bad cholesterol”) in the circulation, which begins the atherosclerosis disease process. You are more likely to experience a heart attack if plaque accumulates in the coronary arteries, which carry blood to the heart.
Diabetes
The major cause of death among diabetics is heart disease, particularly in those with adult-onset or Type 2 diabetes (also known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes).
African Americans, Hispanics, people from Asia and the Pacific Islands, and Native Americans all have a higher risk of developing diabetes than other racial and ethnic groups. According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease accounts for 65% of deaths among diabetics.
Since effective blood sugar control can lower your risk, you should already be receiving medical attention if you are aware that you have diabetes. If you are unsure but believe you could have diabetes, schedule tests with your doctor.
Overweight and Obesity
Increased levels of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes are all significant risk factors for heart disease that can be brought on by excess weight.
Body mass index (BMI), which is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared (BMI = W [kg]/H [m2]), is how doctors define obesity. As stated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), having a BMI over 25 is considered to be overweight.
Obese people are those whose number is more than 30. Using the calculator below, you can calculate your BMI. Once you have that number, use the table below the calculator to determine your body composition.
Smoking Cigarettes Or Harm Substances
While most people are aware that smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products increase your risk of developing lung cancer, few are aware of how much it also raises your risk of the heart getting the disease and the worse of it, getting the peripheral vascular disease.
The American Heart Association estimates that smoking-related ailments claim the lives of about 480,000 Americans annually. Smoking’s negative effects on the heart and blood arteries are a major factor in many of these fatalities.
Smoking makes your heart work harder by raising heart rate, constricting major arteries, and perhaps altering the timing of heartbeats. Smoking increases blood pressure, which is a significant risk factor. Despite the fact that nicotine is the primary substance in cigarette smoke, other substances like tar and carbon monoxide are also detrimental to your heart in a number of ways.
Active Inactivity
A heart attack is more likely to happen to inactive people than to frequent exercisers. Exercise helps people maintain a healthy weight by burning calories, managing their diabetes and cholesterol, and may even lower their blood pressure. Exercise also increases cardiac muscle strength and improves artery flexibility.
People who actively burn 500–3500 calories per week through exercise or at work might anticipate living longer than those who don’t. Regular exercise of any level, including moderate exercise, is beneficial.
Gender Factors
In general, men are more likely to get a heart attack than women. However, the gap closes as women approach menopause. When other risk factors are comparable, the risk of heart disease is roughly the same for both sexes after the age of 65. Women are more likely than men to suffer from cardiovascular diseases, and heart attacks in general are more severe in women.
Heredity Factors
Heart disease tends to run in families. For example, if your parents or siblings had a heart or circulation problem before age 55, then you are at increased risk for heart disease than someone who does not have that family history. Risk factors, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, can also be handed down through generations.
Some types of cardiovascular disease affect some racial and ethnic groups more frequently than others. For instance, research has found that African Americans are more likely than Caucasians to have severe high blood pressure and a higher chance of developing heart disease.
Age Factors
Heart disease is more likely to occur as you get older. In fact, adults over 65 accounts for nearly 4 out of every 5 deaths from heart disease. Our hearts typically function less effectively as we age. The arteries and heart walls may stiffen and harden, causing the heart to be less able to pump blood to the body’s muscles.
Age-related increases in cardiovascular disease risk are brought on by these changes. Women are often shielded from heart disease until menopause, when their risk increases, because of their sex hormones.
Associated Risk Factors That Contributes To Heart Diseases
Too Much Stress
Heart disease is thought to be a risk factor that is influenced by stress. Research is constantly ongoing into how socioeconomic position, behavioural patterns, and emotional stress affect the risk of heart disease and heart attacks.
Stress may harm the heart for a number of reasons, according to researchers.
Your heart needs more oxygen while you are under stress because it raises your heart rate and blood pressure. This increased need for oxygen can cause angina or ischemia, which is when there is not enough oxygen-rich blood reaching the tissues (chest pain).
The neurological system releases more hormones when under stress (most often adrenaline). The lining of the arteries may get damaged as a result of these hormones’ increased blood pressure. The walls of the arteries may harden or thicken throughout the healing process, which facilitates plaque buildup.
Additionally, stress increases the circulation of blood clotting components, increasing the likelihood that a clot will form. Plaque-clogged arteries may then become blocked by clots, leading to a heart attack.
Additional risk factors such as stress may also be involved. For instance, anxious individuals may overeat to feel better, start smoking, or smoke more than usual.
Hormonal Sex
Heart disease appears to be influenced by sex hormones. Heart disease is uncommon in women under the age of forty. But the likelihood that a woman will experience a heart attack significantly rises between the ages of 40 and 65, roughly the time when the majority of women enter menopause. Women account for roughly half of all heart attack victims from 65 on.
Contraceptive Or Illegal Tablets
Early birth control pill types had high levels of estrogen and progesterone, which increased the risk of heart disease and stroke, particularly in smokers and women over the age of 35. But modern birth control pills are thought to be safe for women under 35 who don’t smoke or have high blood pressure because they contain much lower hormone doses.
Birth control pills, however, will raise your risk of heart disease and blood clots if you smoke or have other risk factors, especially if you are over 35. The American Heart Association recommends that women who use birth control pills undergo annual physicals that include blood pressure, triglyceride, and glucose testing.
Intake Of Alcohol
Studies have revealed that the risk of heart disease in those who drink moderate amounts of alcohol is lower than in non-drinkers. According to experts, a moderate intake is defined as one to two drinks for men and one drink for women each day on average.
One drink equals 112 fluid ounces (fl oz) of spirits with 80 proof, 1 Fl oz of spirits with 100 proof, 4 Fl oz of wine, or 12 fl oz of beer. However, excessive alcohol consumption can result in heart-related issues like high blood pressure, stroke, irregular heartbeats, and cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle).
Additionally, a typical drink contains between 100 and 200 calories. Alcohol calories frequently cause the body to gain fat, which could raise the risk of heart disease. It’s not advised for drinkers to consume more alcohol or for non-drinkers to begin drinking.
The time to start enhancing heart health is never too late or too early. While certain risk factors are under our control, others are not. However, you may significantly lower your risk of heart disease by removing risk factors that you can control and managing those that you cannot.
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you to learn more about the implications of heart disease and how to properly handle it without having to lose your life or have any effects after.