Posts
Adhering to a moderate yet healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death by about 90% according to a new study. It is well known that high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes correlate with coronary artery disease. Life style factors do as well – a combination of a Mediterranean style diet, moderate regular exercise, appropriate weight and non smoking all correlate with less coronary artery disease, less stroke, less high blood pressure, less diabetes, less cancer and multiple other chronic conditions and lower (or later) mortality overall.
These same factors have now been demonstrated to also reduce risk for sudden cardiac death, i.e., a sudden arrhythmia that leads to death in less than an hour from symptom onset.
S. E. Chiuve, etal of Harvard and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (JAMA, July 6, 2011, p62) evaluated sudden cardiac death (SCD) among 82,000 participants in the Nurses Health Study between 1984 and 2010. 321 individuals had SCD during those 26 years at an average age of 72.
The authors set out four criteria for low risk lifestyles: not smoking, BMI <25, exercise >30 minutes per day and being in the top 40th percentile of the alternate Mediterranean diet score. In essence, the latter is a diet rich in fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes and fish with moderate intake of alcohol.
The results were clear. The more risk factors, the greater the rate of SCD. Stated differently, “a low risk life style (not smoking, exercising regularly, having a prudent diet and maintaining a healthy weight) was linearly and inversely associated with risk of SCD among women.” Those women who had all four low risk lifestyle attributes experienced a 92% lower risk of SCD compared to those who had no low risk attributes. This suggests that the vast majority of SCD could be prevented by life style modifications.
The study authors point out that although 80% of women do not smoke today, adherence to the other three factors is low. Less than 40% of middle aged women have a BMI <25, 25% drink light to moderate alcohol and only 22% exercise regularly. And although the data on diet habits is limited, a simple observation of what is purchased in the supermarket is telling.
It is evident from this study – and many others – that managing lifestyle factors can prevent serious chronic illnesses including coronary artery disease, cancer, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes along with sudden cardiac death. This is true even for those with a genetic predisposition – “your genes need not direct your fate.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Praise for Dr Schimpff
The craft of science writing requires skills that are arguably the most underestimated and misunderstood in the media world. Dumbing down all too often gets mistaken for clarity. Showmanship frequently masks a poor presentation of scientific issues. Factoids are paraded in lieu of ideas. Answers are marketed at the expense of searching questions. By contrast, Steve Schimpff provides a fine combination of enlightenment and reading satisfaction. As a medical scientist he brings his readers encyclopedic knowledge of his subject. As a teacher and as a medical ambassador to other disciplines he's learned how to explain medical breakthroughs without unnecessary jargon. As an advisor to policymakers he's acquired the knack of cutting directly to the practical effects, showing how advances in medical science affect the big lifestyle and economic questions that concern us all. But Schimpff's greatest strength as a writer is that he's a physician through and through, caring above all for the person. His engaging conversational style, insights and fascinating treasury of cutting-edge information leave both lay readers and medical professionals turning his pages. In his hands the impact of new medical technologies and discoveries becomes an engrossing story about what lies ahead for us in the 21st century: as healthy people, as patients of all ages, as children, as parents, as taxpayers, as both consumers and providers of health services. There can be few greater stories than the adventure of what awaits our minds, bodies, budgets, lifespans and societies as new technologies change our world. Schimpff tells it with passion, vision, sweep, intelligence and an urgency that none of us can ignore.
-- N.J. Slabbert, science writer, co-author of Innovation, The Key to Prosperity: Technology & America's Role in the 21st Century Global Economy (with Aris Melissaratos, director of technology enterprise at the John Hopkins University).
3 comments:
secondary rhinoplasty was primarily performed according to an idea
of beauty based on a subset of American Caucasian
aesthetics. However, more recently a number of surgeons
have tried to expand their approach. Some doctors
specifically offer "ethnic rhinoplasty" to Hispanics,
Asians and African Americans.
http://www.rhinoplastyguide.com/rhinoplastytechniques.html
Nice post.Actually your blog is very informative.It looks like you have done some good research here.Keep going.
african american rhinoplasty
life style change can prevent many life threatening health condition.
but only thing is such style should be pursued for long time atleast a decade.
generic viagra
Post a Comment