Barry's Blog

Robert Hutchins once observed, 'When I feel like exercising I just lie down until the feeling goes away." We may chuckle at his remark, but all too often our lives resemble his sentiment. Like it or not, Mark Twain was not far off the mark when he declared: "The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not do."  Calvin Trillin remarked, "Health food makes me sick!" Well, maintaining our health may not be that bad, but few would question that a key to finishing well in our lives is to do all we can to maintain our health for the coming years.

We've all seen the many articles at the start of the new year stressing the need to make course corrections in our lives. An article that I recently came across made some significant observations about the extent of heart disease, and how to fight it. In the U.S. alone, heart disease accounts for a whopping $400 billion annual cost of heart treatment and lost productivity; 900,000 heart attacks and strokes; 1.2 million angioplasties; and 500,000 bypass operations. According to this study conducted by Salim Yusuf, a heart disease specialist at McMaster University in Toronto, nine risk factors account for 90% of the heart disease in every population in the world. While the risk factors are not new (we have heard them before: smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, stress, a deskbound job and a diet that is rich in processed foods, etc.), what is new is the powerful evidence of the toll they take. The evidence comes from Yusuf's Interheart Study, a worldwide examination of heart disease risk factors involving more than 26,000 volunteers in 52 countries. Based on the study, Yusuf says, "we know virtually all of the risk factors in every population."

Clogged arteries are a "societal disease," Yusuf says, "brought on by cities built for automobiles and ease, fearturing urban sprawl, high pressure sedentary work, passive entertainment and lots of cheap, tasty processed food." Surprisingly, family history - believed by many to be the biggest heart risk of all - accounts for just a fraction of the 10% of remaining risk, the study shows. The Interheart Study, observes Richard Milani, director of preventive cardiology at the Ochsner Institute in New Orleans, "focuses on things we can do something about. We're all dying from a disease that's primarily a disease of choice, of lifestyle."

To that end, here is a brief description of the 9 factors that affect our heart's health:

1. Bad Cholesterol - Good Cholesterol - High cholesterol roughly quadruples heart attack risk. Bad cholesterol (LDL) carries fats into the artery wall, while good cholesterol (HDL) carries it away. A sedentary lifestyle and fatty diet increase LDL, while exercise and a healthy diet switch the ratio and keep the arteries clear.

2. Diabetes - Diabetes doubles a man's risk of having a heart attack. Diabetes, liking smoking, causes platelets to stick together, resulting in scores of tiny clots. These clots clog the smaller blood vessels that feed nerves and arteries, which is a key reason diabetes destroys circulation. 

3. Psychosocial Stress - Stressfrul life events, behavioral disorders, and depression nearly triple the risk of heart attack. Depressed people with heart disease are four times more likely to have a heart attack or die. 

4. Abdominal Obesity - Abdominal obesity more than doubles the risk of heart attack in men. Milani observes, "It's not a big rear that will get you in trouble; it's a big belly." Abdominal fat is hormonally active, "begetting diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol." 

5. Smoking -  Smokers are two to three times more likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers. Cigarette smoke damages the artery wall, paving the way for inflammation and cholesterol build-up. It also narrows arteries, and activates platelets, sticky cells that cling together and promote clotting. 

6. High Blood Pressure -  High blood pressure nearly triples a man's risk of having a heart attack. Narrowed blood vessels force the heart to work harder, slowly wearing it out. 

7. Alcohol - While  modest amounts of alcohol reduce a man's heart attack risk by 12% (and a woman's by 60%!), too much (more than a drink a day)  can promote heart disease, cancer, and alcoholism.  

8. Eating Fruits & Vegetables - Want to cut your risk of heart attack by 30-40%? Eat fresh fruits and vegetables. They lower  bad cholesterol, improve blood sugar, and replace foods that are not as healthy.

9. Yeah, You Knew the Last One...EXERCISE -  Believe it or not, moderate exercise reduces a man's heart risk by 23% and a woman's by twice that amount. "We're not talking about marathons," Milani says. "Even just a nice walk in the park." Exercise improves cholesterol, staves off diabetes by improving blood sugar, and promotes blood vessel growth.

So how are we doing? Why not spend some time thinking about how you can implement better eating habits, handle stress more effectively in your life, and make exercise (even moderate) a part of your daily regimen.

 For FinishingWell,

 Barry Morrow