Risk factors in coronary heart disease

In coronary heart disease, what risk factors are there?

The risk of dying from coronary heart disease it is declining in Spain and in all its regions since the mid-1970s.

Thanks to many studies and thousands of patients, researchers have discovered certain factors that play an important role in a person's chances of suffering from heart disease. They are called "risk factors."

High blood pressure (arterial hypertension)

The increases your risk of coronary heart disease, heart attack, or stroke. Hypertensive people who are also obese, smoke, or have high blood cholesterol levels, have a much higher risk of heart disease or stroke.

blood pressure varies with activity and age, but a healthy adult at rest should have a maximum systolic pressure of 120 and a diastolic pressure of less than 80.

High cholesterol

One of the main risk factors for coronary heart disease is high cholesterol. Cholesterol, a fatty substance (a lipid) carried in the blood, is found in all cells of the body. The liver produces all the cholesterol that the body needs to form cell membranes and produce certain hormones. The body gets extra cholesterol from foods of animal origin (meat, eggs, and dairy products).

When the blood contains too many low-density lipoproteins (LDL or "bad cholesterol"), these begin to accumulate on the walls of the arteries forming plaque and thus initiating the process of the disease called "atherosclerosis." Studies have shown that lowering cholesterol can reduce coronary mortality and the number of re-infarcts by between 30 and 40%. Achieving the maximum clinical and angiographic benefits requires a certainly significant reduction in hypercholesterolemia, in order to lower the desirable value for LDL cholesterol from 200 mg / dl for total cholesterol and from 125 mg / dl.

diabetes

heart problems are the leading cause of death among diabetics, especially those with type II or adult diabetes (also called "non-insulin dependent diabetes"). The American heart Association (AHA) estimates that 65% of diabetic patients die from some type of coronary heart disease. If you know you have diabetes, you should be monitored by a doctor, because good control of glucose (sugar) levels in the blood can reduce your cardiovascular risk.

Obesity and overweight

Obesity increases your chances of suffering from other cardiovascular risk factors, especially hypertension, high blood cholesterol levels, and diabetes.

Nowadays, many doctors measure obesity using the body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing the kilograms of weight by the square of the height in meters (BMI = kg / m2). According to the United States National Lung, heart, and blood Institute (NHLBI), a person is considered to be overweight if they have a BMI greater than 25 and to be obese if the number is greater than 30.

smoking

Most people know that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer, but it also significantly increases the risk of coronary heart disease and peripheral vascular disease (disease of the blood vessels that supply the arms and legs). According to the American heart Association, more than 400,000 Americans die each year from smoking-related diseases. Research shows that smoking speeds up the pulse, constricts major arteries, and can cause irregularities in the rate of your heartbeat, all of which put stress on your heart. smoking also increases blood pressure.

Physical inactivity

Inactive people have a higher risk of having a heart attack than people who exercise regularly. Exercise burns calories, helps control cholesterol levels and diabetes, and helps lower blood pressure.

Men and women

In general, men are at higher risk than women for a heart attack. The difference is less when women enter menopause, because research shows that estrogen, one of the female hormones, helps protect women from heart disease.

Inheritance

heart disease is often hereditary. For example, if the parents or siblings had a heart or circulatory problem before the age of 55, the person has a higher cardiovascular risk than someone who does not have that family history.

Conclusions.

The large controlled studies in epidemiology and prevention of ischemic heart disease, in summary, have represented a progress that we would dare to consider as transcendental in the last 25 years, in terms of the knowledge of the causes of coronary heart disease, of the form of power prevent it in populations and risk groups, as well as the most effective therapeutic measures in the prevention of new coronary episodes, with the desirable reduction in mortality.

But we Spaniards fulfill many cardiovascular risk factorsr, cholesterol is increasing in children, smoking is increasing in women and some dietary changes are taking place in our habits. An increased risk of cardiovascular death could occur in the coming years in our country, despite improvements in medical care or in the detection and treatment of diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol.