February is American heart month, and a doctor in the DC area warns that heart health should not be overlooked by younger generations.
February is American heart month, and a doctor in the DC area warns that heart health should not be overlooked by younger generations.
“We actually see the onset of cholesterol plaque formation in adolescence,” said Dr. Robert Lager, president of MedStar Cardiology Associates and regional director of outpatient cardiology at MedStar.
“Aggressive prevention of heart disease must begin in childhood; you shouldn’t wait until you become an older person, ”he said.
Lager said the study data shows teenagers who died in accidents, young soldiers killed in combat and teen heart donors found that one in six teen donors already had significant plaque in their arteries. Lager said that this finding is “impressive”.
A recent Cleveland Clinic survey found that 80% of people are unaware that the right time to start taking cholesterol testing is in their 20s. Lager said that few people know the risk factors for heart disease, according to a recent survey of people with an average age of 30.
“Smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, drug use – 65% could not identify any of them, which is incredible,” said Lager.
Lager said that smoking is the most risky activity that young people practice.
“And it is the most important risk factor for the development of heart disease,” he said. “In fact, that includes secondhand smoke, so it’s for parents and children.”
One way to help convince young people to have a healthy heart from an early age, said Lager, is to say that it will help keep them young for longer.
“You take a 50-year-old man who has a two in one chance of developing heart disease for the rest of his life – a 50% chance of him having a heart attack or dying from heart disease,” said Lager.
“But if you look at the studies on a man who is free of these risk factors – no cholesterol problems, no blood pressure problems, no diabetes, not obese, doesn’t smoke – they have an extremely low 5% risk of developing cardiovascular disease illness at 95, ”said Lager.
You can find more heart healthy lifestyle tips on the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute website.
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