Cardiovascular disease risk can be diminished

In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from the Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago attempted to define which factors, if corrected, led to the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease. The study observed 50,000 men and women for many years. It determined that by the age of 45, lowering your total cholesterol to below 180, maintaining a blood pressure below 120 over 80, not having diabetes and not smoking staved off the time to developing cardiovascular disease by 14 years and promoted a better quality of life.

The study noted that at every age, women had a lower risk than men. It also found that after a person suffers from a cardiovascular illness, death occurred within an average of four years, regardless of age or sex.

This information highlights that every one of us is at risk of cardiovascular disease, and our lifestyle during our young adult years profoundly affects the chances of illness in later life. It is never too early to pay attention to your health.

It is also never too late. While the benefits are not as great, beginning to live a heart-healthy lifestyle, having an ideal weight, eating right and correcting underlying medical risk factors is the most effective way of reducing cardiovascular risk in the Medicare population of all ages. And the benefits of prevention are always greater than treating the disease.

We know that some of us are at a far greater risk than others. A strong family history of cardiovascular disease among parents, siblings and relatives increases risk by an additional 50 percent.

And a new research study shows that certain physical characteristics can be a harbinger of cardiovascular disease.

At the American Heart Association annual meeting, Danish scientists presented the results of a study of 11,000 men and women over the age of 40, showing that a series of physical characteristics appear to increase risk of heart disease by 40 percent to 50 percent. These include a receding hairline at the temples, baldness at the crown of the head, a crease in the ear and yellow fatty deposits around the eyelids.