DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog

An article this month in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that from 1980 to 2000, the age-adjusted death rate from coronary heart disease fell by 50%.  Half of that reduction can be attributed to reductions in major risk factors over that time, according to researchers.  

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identifies the following behavioral risk factors that can be modified to reduce your risk of coronary heart disease:

• "Tobacco Use:  Tobacco use increases the risk of heart disease and heart attack. Cigarette smoking promotes atherosclerosis and increases the levels of blood clotting factors, such as fibrinogen. Also, nicotine raises blood pressure, and carbon monoxide reduces the amount of oxygen that blood can carry. Exposure to other people's smoke can increase the risk of heart disease even for nonsmokers.

• Diet:  Several aspects of peoples' dietary patterns have been linked to heart disease and related conditions. These include diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol, which raise blood cholesterol levels and promote atherosclerosis. High salt or sodium in the diet causes raised blood pressure levels.

• Physical Inactivity:  Physical inactivity is related to the development of heart disease. It also can impact other risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, a low level of HDL (good) cholesterol, and diabetes. Regular physical activity can improve risk factor levels.

• Obesity:  Obesity is excess body fat. It is linked to higher LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglyceride levels and to lower HDL (good) cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

• Alcohol:  Excessive alcohol use leads to an increase in blood pressure, and increases the risk for heart disease. It also increases blood levels of triglycerides which contributes to atherosclerosis."

Heart disease is also a major health concern among women, many of whom delay screening, in part, because estrogen is thought to provide some protection against heart disease.  First Lady Laura Bush has led a public education campaign to address that and many other misconceptions related to heart disease in women.  The following heart disease facts concerning women in particular appear on The White House website:

• "Heart disease is the leading cause of death of American women, accounting for 32 percent of all deaths per year. Nearly 366,000 women in America die every year of heart disease.
• 8 million American women are currently living with heart disease and of those, 6 million have a family history of heart disease.
• Fewer than half of all women are aware that heart disease is the number 1 killer of American women. Most women identify cancer as the leading cause of death.
• In the United States, all cardiovascular diseases combined claim the lives of more women's every year than the next 16 causes of death combined -- and almost twice as many as all forms of cancer.
• One in three women will die from heart disease, while one in 25 women die from breast cancer.
• Every year since 1984, more women than men have died of cardiovascular disease.
• There is no previous evidence of coronary heart disease in 63 percent of the women who suddenly die from the disease.
• Smoking is the most prevalent and preventable risk factor for cardiovascular disease in women younger than 45.
• 40 percent to 50 percent of women older than 45 have high blood pressure and an elevated total cholesterol level -- both well-documented risk factors.
• Heart disease is often preventable."