Since it is becoming a common medical malady, it is important to be aware of the risk factors for coronary heart disease. There are a number of irregular conditions that affect the heart and the vessels supplying the heart with blood. Coronary heart disease is the most widespread kind of heart disease. It is also the most common cause of heart attacks.

Damage that occurs to the heart when the supply of blood is reduced is referred to as coronary heart disease. What normally happens is, deposits that are fatty in nature, build up within the lining of blood vessels whose job it is to supply blood to the heart muscles. This causes narrowing of the blood vessels and the resulting factor is a reduction in the blood supply to the heart muscles. This causes symptoms of pain known as angina.

Causes of Coronary Heart Disease

There are risk factors for coronary heart disease that are considered to be responsible for this disease. The biggest and most well known culprit is high cholesterol. Worldwide cholesterol levels in different populations vary quite dramatically. The Japanese population for instance, has much lower blood cholesterol levels and the rate of heart disease is lower. But in other populations that have similar incidences of blood cholesterol levels often have very varied heart disease rates.

Smoking tobacco is often quoted as one of the major risk factors for coronary heart disease. The smoker has a twice greater chance of developing heart disease than a nonsmoker. Studies indicate that after having given up smoking for five years, the risk factor of developing coronary heart disease lowers to that of a person who has never smoked.

There is a medically proven relationship between smoking tobacco products and coronary heart disease. While smoking is legal and remains a personal choice, it is a dangerous practice and it is necessary for individuals to know that smoking habits play a role in the causes of serious coronary heart disease. Many individuals may be in denial regarding the connection between smoking and coronary heart disease. This denial is often based upon a need to mollify criticism towards smoking and may also stem from those companies who profit from the sale of tobacco products.

Pop Cultural Influences

When watching old episodes of the TONIGHT SHOW with Johnny Carson, it is surprising to see that he casually smokes cigarettes during the greater part of the program. In the classic films made in the 1930’s and 40’s, many actors puff away on cigarettes during the duration of the film. In one of the most bizarre scenes in the 1973 film THE EXORCIST portrays doctors smoking whilst acting in the examination scene. Fans of classic motion pictures and television programs will notice that the number of people portrayed smoking while acting out their roles as very high by today’s standards. It is no wonder that the incidences of coronary heart disease were so high only a few decades ago.

At one time, smoking was so routinely shown in film and television productions worldwide that it acquired a foothold in pop culture. The result of this is that much of the public, close to 50%, was profoundly addicted to tobacco products. This addiction has not been without consequences as coronary heart disease and lung cancer incidences increased to correspond with the huge amount of individuals who enjoyed smoking cigarettes.

How Smoking Contributes To Coronary Heart Disease

Despite various attempts by stakeholders in the tobacco industry to deny the link between smoking tobacco products and coronary heart disease, medical technologists have confirmed the link between the two after numerous research programs over the last two decades. The continuous inhalation of smoke into the lungs over an extended period of time constricts the arteries and leads to coronary heart disease. This limits the blood flow throughout the arteries and the potential for a heart attack becomes very significant. This is a very dangerous situation to be in. Besides coronary heart disease, the smoking of tobacco products can cause various other ravaging effects on the human body. This can include breathing problems and the stunting of growth.

Diagnosis Of Coronary Heart Disease

The only sure way that coronary heart disease can be diagnosed is with a special procedure known as a coronary angiography. An x-ray sensitive dye is introduced to the blood flow to the heart. X-rays are then taken to examine how well the blood is flowing through the heart. This procedure is undertaken in conjunction with cardiac catherization when the patient is under sedation.

Prevention

The best possible way to prevent risk factors of coronary heart disease is to avoid them as much as possible. The most important thing to do is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating healthily and ensuring the correct amount of daily physical activity. Only by living as healthily as possible will you be able to protect yourself from any of the risk factors of coronary heart disease.

Heart attack. The words alone can send a chill down even the strongest man’s spine, and with good reason. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death for Americans. Men have a greater risk of heart attack at a younger age than women. But the risk increases for women as they near menopause and, eventually, surpasses that of men. If the nicest thing we can say about someone is that he has a good heart, the most important thing we can say is that he has a healthy heart. You probably can decrease your risk of heart attack by changing your lifestyle in the following areas:

1. Keep tabs on your cholesterol levels

To control your cholesterol, avoid saturated fat, eat fewer calories, and try to eat foods rich in fiber, such as vegetables and fruits. If your cholesterol is very high, drugs to lower it may be an option for you.

2. Ask your doctor about aspirin

Daily intake of aspirin may reduce your risk of heart attack by thinning your blood and preventing clots from forming. However, you should talk with your doctor before doing so because aspirin is not safe for everyone.

3. Drink moderately

Studies show that one drink a day (12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of liquor) may have a protective effect on your heart. However, the effects are more beneficial if you are middle-aged or older and have suffered a heart attack or stroke or already have cardiovascular disease.

4. Exercise

Regular exercise is good for you because it helps reduce stress, cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and excess weight, and it can make your heart stronger, leading to a lower pulse rate. But overdoing exercise isn’t a good thing, especially weight-lifting exercises that can trigger heart attacks. Talk with your doctor before beginning an exercise program.

5. Relax

Because stress is such a factor in heart disease, eliminating or decreasing it can do wonders for your cardiovascular health.

6. Control your blood pressure

Your heart has to work harder to push blood through your body when your blood pressure is high. This causes your heart to enlarge and can speed up atherosclerosis. Fortunately, by reducing your diastolic blood pressure by only 2mm Hg (millimeters per mercury), you can decrease your risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke. The average healthy blood pressure is 120/80 mm Hg.

7. Stop smoking

Smoking is harmful to your cardiovascular health. Smoking also clogs your arteries and in the process, raises the blood pressure in those clogged arteries. This condition helps to double the heart attack risk for smokers compared with non-smokers. Therefore, as soon as you stop, your body immediately starts to bounce back and improve your cardiovascular health.

There is new evidence that an extremely common skin condition is associated with an elevated risk for heart attack.

We are talking about psoriasis, which affects about 2 to 3 percent of the adult population.

As if this condition isn’t bad enough–bear in mind, it can be extensive and really affect ones way of life because of the problems with the skin itself.

But now, there’s new evidence it is associated with deadly cardiovascular disease. You know, it’s sometimes referred to as the heartbreak of psoriasis.
And that couldn’t be farther from the truth, in a literal sense.

New research in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association shows that adults with psoriasis, especially younger individuals, are at an increased risk for heart attack.

Dr. Joel Gelfand, the lead researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, says, “Psoriasis is such a complicated disease; most people that develop the disease earlier in life, in their 20s and 30s, it may be that these folks are the ones who may have the highest risk of developing uh heart attacks related to psoriasis if their disease is severe, as opposed to people who develop psoriasis later on in life.”

Understand that psoriasis is a disease of inflammation. And there are inflammatory markers in the blood, like one called c-reactive protein, which are elevated with psoriasis.
The fact is, heart disease is also a condition of inflammation, and c-reactive protein can also be elevated with heart blockages.

So other chronic immune conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis, have already been shown to be associated with higher risks of having a heart attack independent of these major cardiovascular risks factors, instructs Dr. Gelfand.

The authors say the degree of association between severe psoriasis and heart attack in patients younger than 50 is similar to the magnitude of association for other major cardiac risk factors.

The bad news for Ernie Bickford, who is 72 years old, is that he has had a bad case of psoriasis for eight years now. “It’s just itchy, you wake up in the middle of the night and you got to get to a door jam to scratch your back.”

Fortunately, the good news is, because Ernie is older, psoriasis is not a heart attack risk that would be seen in a younger psoriasis patient.

Regardless, all psoriasis patients need to pay close attention to their entire medical care.

Dr. Gelfand says, “People with psoriasis are more likely to have diabetes; they’re more likely to be overweight; they’re more likely to have elevated blood lipids, they’re more likely to be hypertensive, and also they tend to be more likely to smoke. So the patient should ask their dermatologist to screen them for cardiovascular risk factors or if not follow up with a primary doctor or internist who can do these screenings for them.”

One thing for sure you can do: don’t smoke, or if you do, quit.
Smoking has actually been shown to be associated with the onset of psoriasis.

The author says some people have suggested that therefore, its worthwhile encouraging people not to smoke if they have psoriasis because it may actually promote the disease.