Are You At Risk?
If too many of the following risk factors for heart disease
sound suspiciously familar to you, then we strongly urge that you seek
further advice from your local Doctor as soon as convenient and before
embarking on any new exercise programme ...
  
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 Age
- About four out of five people who die of coronary heart
disease are aged 65 or older. At older ages, women who have heart attacks
are more likely than men are to die from them within a few weeks.
Male
sex - Men have a greater risk of heart disease than women,
and they have attacks earlier in life. Whilst men are more prone to
cardiac events than pre-menopausal females, once women reach the age
of sixty they are more likely to have a heart attack than a male -
and these infarcts are generally more severe! Hormone Replacement Therapy
reduces this risk , however this management has increased risk of some
carcinomas. Please discuss this important aspect with your family doctor
or cardiologist.
Family
History - As with many diseases atherosclerosis and its complications
are more likely to occur in those subjects who have a close relative
with the disease. In general this refers to cardiac events which occur
early in mid life and are often sudden death. If you have parents or
siblings who have had such an event early in life you should take immediate
steps to reduce your risk factors.
An elevated lipoprotein Lpa is considered by many preventive cardiologists
to indicate that you have indeed inherited this predetermination for
coronary artery disease and you should see your doctor without delay
for counselling or referral to a cardiologist.
Smoking
- A smokers' risk of heart disease is more than twice that
of a nonsmoker's. Cigarette smoking is the biggest risk factor for
sudden cardiac death; smokers have two to four times the risk of nonsmokers.
Smokers who have a heart attack are more likely to die and die suddenly
(within an hour) than are nonsmokers. Constant exposure to other people's
smoke - called passive smoking - increases the risk of heart disease
even for nonsmokers.
Smoking cessation in addition to an appropriate
exercise regimen are the two most important life style changes that
patients with arterial disease can make to reduce their risk of heart
attack , stroke or peripheral arterial disease.
The value of low nicotine
cigarettes is greatly over emphasised in those who are nicotine dependant.
If you have your first cigarette within thirty minutes of waking you
are nicotine dependant and are likely to benefit from nicotine replacement
therapy in the early stages of giving up. However if you do not have
this early craving it is unlikely that such treatment will help.
As most
of the carcinogens are associated with the temperature of the cigarette
and come from external pollutants the deeper the breathing the greater
the intake of these toxic products. In nicotine dependant people using
a low nicotine cigarette will only results in a greater inspiration to
get the small amount of nicotine and result in increased intake of the
other toxins.
Whilst giving up altogether reduction in the number of cigarettes
per day is of some help. Those smokers who give up will find that their
risk of cardiac events reduces over time commencing after two to three
years- by ten years their risk of heart attacks is not dissimilar to
non smokers.
High
Cholesterol - Cholesterol is present in the Body in several
forms- the two major ones being Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) the Lousy
cholesterol (about 75% of the total) and High Density Lipoprotein (HDL)
the good cholesterol (25% of total).
LDL molecules vary in size - they
may be quite small and dense which allows then to penetrate tissues,
or larger in which case their tendancy to put cholesterol into arteries
is reduced. From 30- 50 % of Australian subjects have this form of
small molecule LDL. In some races particularly Indian this incidence
is much higher. Small LDL molecules are particularly atherogenic and
are associated with low levels of Good Cholesterol (HDL<1mmol/L)
and Triglycerides >2mmol/L). If you have this profile you need to
seek medical advice.
It is interesting to note that those subjects who
have a more active lifestyle generally have the larger molecule LDL whilst
those more slug like tend to have small molecules.
Reducing LDL levels
by diet and exercise will reduce your risk levels significantly. In those
who have had a previous cardiac event attention to increasing HDL above
1mmol/l is of greater importance.
In the general population reduction
in Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol are important lifestyle modifications
to reduce the overall impact of heart disease on the community. Appropriate
diet and an exercise programme which has shown to be effective in making
positive changes to lipid profile should be the mainstay of preventive
management. The Nu-Life™ Cardiac
Programme has been shown to be most effective in this situation.
High
blood pressure - High blood pressure places extra strain on
the heart over years or decades, causing the heart to enlarge and weaken.
It also increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart failure.
When high blood pressure exists with obesity, smoking, high blood cholesterol
levels or diabetes, the risk of heart attack or stroke increases several
times.
Diabetes - Diabetes seriously increases the risk of developing
cardiovascular disease. Even when blood glucose levels are under control,
diabetes greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. About
two-thirds of people with diabetes die of some form of heart or blood
vessel disease. If you have diabetes, it's critically important to
work with your doctor to manage your diabetes and control any other
risk factors you can.
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