Tag Archives: Cardiovascular Disease

Heart Disease and Hypertension

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The #1 killer of Americans—Cardiovascular / Heart Disease.

Cardiovascular disease remains the #1 health threat and the leading cause of death in the U.S. Over 874,000 Americans died of cardiovascular disease in 2019, according to the American Heart Association’s “Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2022 Update.”

Moreover, cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills more people each year than COVID-19 at its worst and CVD is the preventable. Every year, cardiovascular disease kills twice as many people, at a younger average age, as COVID-19 has at its worst, and since 2020, there’s been a surge in fatalities from heart disease and stroke in the U.S.

Fortunately, we don’t need heroic medical innovation to turn back this pandemic. We already have the public health tools needed to prevent most early cardiovascular deaths. The question is whether we can muster the social and political will to use them.

First, some basics. In the first two years of the pandemic, COVID-19 killed nearly 900,000 people in the U.S. In those same years, heart attacks and strokes killed more than 1.6 million. Globally, COVID-19 killed more than 10 million people in the first two years of the pandemic; in the same two years, cardiovascular disease killed more than 35 million. The three leading drivers of heart attacks and strokes—accounting for around two-thirds of the global total—are tobacco use, hypertension and air pollution, and all three are preventable.

There are many things you can do to take control of your health and reduce your risk of heart problems without medication. One of the most important ways to protect your heart—and brain, as research shows—is to protect yourself against the dangers of hypertension.

Blood pressure is the force of that blood pushing against your artery walls. It is normal for your blood pressure to rise and fall throughout the day. But if it stays high for too long, the constant force on your arteries can create microscopic tears. These tears can turn into scar tissue, providing the perfect lodging place for fat, cholesterol, and other particles—collectively called plaque.  

Buildup of plaque narrows the arteries, which requires your heart to work extra hard to push blood through, causing spikes in blood pressure. When untreated, high blood pressure (or hypertension) is a ticking time bomb.

Most people experience no symptoms, often having high blood pressure without knowing. Left undetected or uncontrolled, hypertension can lead to heart disease, heart attack, stroke, kidney damage/failure, vision loss, peripheral artery disease, and sexual dysfunction.

The Brain and Blood Pressure Connection

Research is starting to show just how far-reaching the effects of hypertension can be, affecting not just the blood vessels in the brain, but also how the brain functions. A recently published study in Hypertension, the journal of the American Heart Association, found that high blood pressure appears to accelerate cognitive decline.

On the other hand, those with controlled hypertension did not experience these rapid declines in memory or cognitive function, which highlights the need to control blood pressure, regardless of age. As scientists in this study concluded, “In addition to hypertension, prehypertension and pressure control might be critical for the preservation of cognitive function.”

Other research confirms the importance of keeping heart health risk factors under control, especially for the prevention of dementia. In one study of 1,449 people, those who had better control over modifiable heart disease risk factors had lower risk of dementia later in life.

It’s time to pay special attention to understanding, preventing and treating heart disease. Here are just a few examples of how you can reduce your risk:

  • Doing at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week
  • Eating healthy (the AHA’s Heart-Check mark can guide you)
  • Not smoking or vaping
  • Maintaining a healthy weight
  • Controlling blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure
  • Getting regular checkups
  • Finding ways to relax and ease your mind, such as meditation

Caring for yourself and taking care of your heart is good for your brain. That’s because many of the risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, are also related to brain diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

References:

  1. https://www.newportnaturalhealth.com/blogs/popular-posts/ticking-time-bomb-fighting-the-1-killer-in-the-u-s
  2. https://www.wsj.com/articles/stopping-a-pandemic-deadlier-than-covid-11648220259
  3. https://www.heart.org/en/around-the-aha/reclaim-your-health-during-american-heart-month-in-february
  4. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001052

Stopping a Pandemic

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“Cardiovascular disease kills more people each year than COVID-19 at its worst. We know how to prevent it. We just need the political will.” Tom Frieden

Although COVID-19 is the most aggressively reported pandemic of our lifetime, it is neither the deadliest nor the most preventable.

That distinction goes to cardiovascular disease (CVD), a pandemic so common it is invisible, so routinely lethal it seems normal, and so ingrained in the fabric of modern society it seems natural.

Every year, cardiovascular disease kills twice as many people, at a younger average age, as COVID-19 has at its worst, and since 2020, there’s been a surge in fatalities from heart disease and stroke in the U.S. And, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of lower life expectancy among African Americans.

Some basics facts…in the first two years of the pandemic, COVID-19 killed nearly 900,000 people in the U.S., says Tom Frieden, M.D., chief executive, Resolve to Save Lives.

In those same years, heart attacks and strokes killed more than 1.6 million. Globally, COVID-19 killed more than 10 million people in the first two years of the pandemic; in the same two years, cardiovascular disease killed more than 35 million globally.

The leading drivers of cardiovascular disease related heart attacks and strokes are:

  • Tobacco use,
  • Hypertension,
  • Artificial trans fats consumption, and
  • Air pollution,

and all are preventable.

Related medical costs and productivity losses approach $450 billion annually, and inflation-adjusted direct medical costs are projected to triple over the next two decades if present trends continue.

Cardiovascular disease can be prevented

Tobacco

Tackling these killers—tobacco use, hypertension, artificial trans fat, and air pollution—doesn’t require making radical changes in society. Americans still very much lived in the same country after we reduced the number of fatal car crashes by outlawing drunken driving, promoted child development by eliminating lead in paint and gasoline, and prevented food poisoning through regulations making food safer. But it does mean regulating companies that sell tobacco and unhealthy foods and cause air pollution so that they are forced to share some of the costs of the enormous harms they cause.

The first priority is to end the epidemic of tobacco use. Once people start, especially those who start young, the addictiveness of nicotine in tobacco makes it extraordinarily difficult to stop. Although smoking rates are now at the lowest level ever measured in the U.S., more than 35 million adults still smoke tobacco, each day 1,600 kids try their first cigarette, and tobacco kills nearly 500,000 Americans every year.

The way to reduce smoking is to rally our collective will to do something about the problem. Increasing taxes on tobacco can save millions of lives by using high prices to suppress demand. Rigorous studies have proved that tobacco has a negative price elasticity: For every 10% increase in price, consumption declines by about 4% and by about 8% for children and lower-income groups. About half of that decrease is from people quitting and the other half from people cutting down on the number of cigarettes they smoke.

Sodium and Hypertension

The most important single step to prevent high blood pressure is to reduce your sodium consumption

Kaiser Permanente’s research has shown that it is possible to achieve 90% blood pressure control. Closely related, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends consuming no more than 2 g of sodium per day (5 g/d salt). Unfortunately, the average salt intake globally is between 9 and 12 g/d.10. High sodium intake is the leading cause of hypertension and is responsible for 2.3 million deaths per year.

Reducing sodium intake reduces blood pressure which in turn lowers cardiovascular disease risk.

Artificial trans fats

Artificial trans fat is a harmful compound that increases the risk of heart attack and death. It can be eliminated and replaced with healthier alternatives without altering taste or increasing cost.

Artificial trans fat is estimated to cause 540,000 deaths every year, globally. Elimination of artificial trans fat has substantial health benefits. Eliminating the use of artificial trans fat in foods in Denmark reduced deaths from cardiovascular disease. In New York State, people living in counties with artificial trans fat restrictions were 6% less likely to be admitted to the hospital after suffering a heart attack or stroke.

Air pollution

Cardiovascular disease stubbornly remains the leading cause of preventable death in America and globally. Political will to combat this silent pandemic and public education are the two best remedies.

References:

  1. https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMp1110421
  2. https://www.wsj.com/articles/stopping-a-pandemic-deadlier-than-covid-11648220259
  3. https://www.ahrq.gov/workingforquality/about/agency-specific-quality-strategic-plans/nqs2.html

Small Rewards Work Best for Exercise

Micro rewards increase gym visits by 16%. Combine a few successful strategies, such as:

  • Set a reasonable workout schedule
  • Add reminders on your phone
  • Plan small rewards for keeping to your schedule and also for going back to the gym if you miss a plan workout.

One in Sixty Rule — It means that for every 1 degree an aircraft veers off its intended course, it misses its target destination by 1 mile for every 60 miles it flies. Further you go, further away from your goal or destination you get. It is true in life too.