February is American Heart Month, and a doctor in the DC area warns that heart health should not be ignored by younger generations.
February is American Heart Month, and a doctor in the DC area warns that heart health should not be ignored by younger generations.
“We are actually seeing the beginning of cholesterol plaque formation in adolescence,” said Dr. Robert Lager, president of MedStar Cardiology Associates and regional director of outpatient cardiology for MedStar, said.
‘Aggressive prevention of heart disease should begin in childhood; it should not wait until you are an older person, ‘he said.
Lager said the study’s data show that teens who died in accidents, young soldiers killed in combat, and donors of heart transplants against teens found that one in six teen donors had a significant plaque in their veins. Lager said this finding is ‘astonishing’.
A recent survey by the Cleveland Clinic found that 80% of people do not know that the right time to have their cholesterol tested is in their twenties. According to a recent survey among people with the average age of 30, Lager said that too few people know the risk factors for heart disease.
“Smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, drug use – 65% could not identify any of them, which is great,” Lager said.
Lager says smoking is the most risky activity younger people do.
“And it is the most important risk factor for the development of heart disease,” he said. “It actually includes secondhand smoke, so it applies to both parents and children.”
One way to help younger people stay healthy early, Lager said, is to tell them that it will help keep them younger for longer.
“You take a 50-year-old man who has a one in two chance of developing heart disease for the rest of his life – a 50% chance that he will have a heart attack or die of heart disease,” Lager said.
‘But if you look at studies in a man who is free of these risk factors – no cholesterol problems, no blood pressure problems, no diabetes, no obesity, no smoking – they have a remarkably low 5% risk of developing cardiovascular. disease by the age of 95, ”said Lager.
You can find more heart-healthy lifestyle tips on the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute website.
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