Reducing Heart Attack Risk | Young Adults
by Premier Hospitals | January 31, 2020 |
Heart attacks are increasing in people under the age of 40. Over the past several decades, ageing has been seen as one of the most significant risk factors for heart attacks, usually affecting men over 50 years and women over 65 years. However, in the recent past, people in their twenties, thirties and forties are also now becoming victims of this dreaded disease. After motor vehicle accidents, a heart attack is the leading cause of death among young adults in India. One of the most significant contributors to this rising epidemic is the lack of commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Your lifestyle is not only your best protection against heart disease and stroke but also your responsibility. There are certain factors that increase the risk of development of heart disease in individuals. Some of these risk factors can be changed, treated, or modified; while others may not be. If we control these risk factors that affect young adults from an early age, we can drastically reduce the risk of heart disease later in life. As is always taught to us, Prevention is better than cure and the same applies to heart problems. A healthy lifestyle includes the ideas listed below in this article. By following these simple steps, you can reduce the risk of developing heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Let us see five essential facts that increase the risk of heart attack in Young adults:
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Physical inactivity
Some children and young adults can develop high blood pressure, maybe due to an unhealthy lifestyle or due to bad genes that were passed on from their parents. But we often overlook this in childhood as we don't expect our children to have high blood pressure and also because it does not cause symptoms. Make sure that your child's (and if there are any young adults) blood pressure is checked regularly during an annual checkup.
What causes high blood pressure in young adults?
High blood pressure (hypertension) in young adults is not congenital (occurring at birth) but can be inherited from the parents and present later in life. For this reason, children born in families with high blood pressure should monitor their blood pressure regularly.
However, most cases of high blood pressure in young adults are a result of other conditions, such as heart or kidney disease; this is called secondary hypertension.
What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance known as lipid that is found in all cells of the body. The liver produces all the cholesterol the body needs to form specific cell membranes and hormones. Additional cholesterol enters the body when you eat animal foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy products, as well as foods that are high in saturated fat.
Cholesterol reaches cells through the bloodstream in specialised carriers called lipoproteins. Two most important Lipoproteins are low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein. They are called LDL and HDL respectively.
Doctors look at the levels of LDL, HDL, and fat, called triglycerides, and your total cholesterol levels. High cholesterol levels are increasing the risk of Heart attacks in people under the age of 40.
What causes high cholesterol in young adults?
This is again attributable to unhealthy lifestyle and diet. However, In certain cases, high cholesterol levels occur in families. It is called familial hypercholesterolemia. About 1% to 2% of children suffer from this condition and must check their cholesterol levels before they are five years old.
Other risk factors for high cholesterol are obesity, high blood pressure and smoking.
Smoking
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), nearly 25% of students use tobacco, and nearly 4,000 children under the age of 18 try their first cigarette every day. 9 out of 10 smokers start smoking before graduating.
Every year, more and more people die from heart disease caused by smoking. Young people are otherwise at very low risk of heart disease, but due to smoking their risk of heart disease increases by 75%. The longer a person smokes, the higher the risk of heart disease.
Obesity:
Obesity is one of the significant risk factors for heart attack. In recent years, childhood obesity has become a problem everywhere. As a result, there is a sharp increase in obesity problems such as type 2 diabetes, which usually only occurs in adults. Because obese children are more likely to be obese adults, preventing or treating childhood obesity can reduce the risk of obesity in adults. It, in turn, can help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other obesity-related diseases.
What is obesity, and what causes it?
Our body consists of water, fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Being overweight means that you have too much body fat.
For some people, the cause of obesity is very simple: they eat more calories than they burn while exercising daily. Other causes of obesity are genetics, ageing, lifestyle, and disease.
Childhood obesity is dangerous because researchers believe that the fat cells we get during childhood will stay with us as adults. Children who are overweight may have five times more fat cells than normal-weight children. The adult diet reduces the size of fat cells, but not the actual number of fat cells.
Physical Inactivity
The primary risk factor for a heart attack is the lack of exercise. People who avoid doing exercise will suffer from increased risk of a heart attack. Physical inactivity also increases the risk of developing other risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
Active children usually become active adults. In addition to preventing risk factors for heart disease later in life, regular exercise will:
- Help control body weight: It can help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other obesity-related diseases.
- Strengthen bones: Regular exercise leads to better bone development and reduces the risk of thin or brittle bones (osteoporosis) in adulthood.
- Increase your self-esteem and confidence: Exercise can make your child feel better physically and mentally.
- Improve cardiovascular health: Exercise lowers blood pressure, increases the amount of HDL or "good cholesterol" in the blood and reduces stress.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to reduce your risk of a heart attack:
- Control your blood pressure
- Keep your cholesterol and triglyceride levels under control
- Stay at a healthy weight
- Eat a healthy diet
- Get regular exercise
- Limit alcohol
- Don't smoke
- Manage stress
- Manage diabetes
- Make sure that you get enough sleep
Dr. K Chanakya Kishore - Interventional Cardiologist
Dr. K Chanakya Kishore practices as a Sr. Interventional Cardiologist, at Premier Hospitals, Hyderabad. He did his MBBS & MD in Kurnool Medical College and D.M in Cardiology from the prestigious All India Institute Of Medical Sciences New Delhi. He is also conferred with FACC in 2017 and FSCA1 in 2019.
He is one of the leading interventional cardiologists in Hyderabad with an immense 17+years of experience in the field. He has performed more than 25,000 procedures and 3000+ PTCAs. He is Expertise in trans-radial and trans ulnar PTCA’s.
About the Hospital:
Since the inception of Premier Hospital in 1991 till today, we have grown to unprecedented levels, due to our excellence in medical sciences and healthcare. Premier Hospital is the creation of Dr Mahesh Marda and when it was first established, was only a small, 30-bed hospital facility. Back then, we provided only secondary care to patients, but that certainly has changed in the present landscape.