Optimal Heart Health Starts Early
Jan-27-2012

People who reach midlife without developing high blood pressure, diabetes or other risk factors for cardiovascular disease are much less likely to have a heart attack or stroke by age 80 than their less healthy peers, a new study suggests.
"If you make it to middle age with an optimal profile, it's really like the fountain of youth for your heart," said lead researcher Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
Besides diabetes and hypertension, researchers looked at the effects of two other cardiovascular risk factors -- high cholesterol and smoking -- on long-term heart health. A heart-healthy profile at midlife "essentially abolished your remaining chance of developing any heart disease over your remaining lifespan," Lloyd-Jones added. These lifestyle-related factors mattered more than age, race or sex, the researchers found.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death for U.S. adults.
The researchers found that a 45-year-old man with optimal levels of those risk factors has a 1.4 percent chance of having a major heart event or stroke during his remaining lifetime, Lloyd-Jones said.
"Contrast that with a 45-year-old man who has two or more major risk factors, his lifetime risk would be 49.5 percent," he said.

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