| CREDIT: Heart rate via Shutterstock |
Even middle-age adults who have seemingly
"optimal" heart health may be at risk for heart disease later in
life, a new study says. In the study, about four in 10 men and three in 10
women who had normal blood pressure and cholesterol, did not smoke and did not have diabetes at
age 55 developed some type of cardiovascular disease later in life. The
findings highlight "the large public health burden" of cardiovascular
disease, the researchers said.
However, those with optimal heart health in middle age
tended to live more years of their life free of cardiovascular disease. On average, men and women with optimal heart health at age 45
developed cardiovascular disease between eight and 14 years later than those
who had at least two risk factors for heart disease at age 45. Previous studies
have estimated the lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease for middle-age
adults, but have generally not included heart failure (when the heart does not pump enough blood to the rest of the
body) or hemorrhagic stroke (a stroke caused by a burst blood vessel in the
brain) as a type of cardiovascular disease.
The new study aimed to fill this gap. The researchers
analyzed information from population studies, including the Framingham Heart
Study, which was conducted between 1964 and 2008. Participants did not have
cardiovascular disease at the study's start. Between 2 and 8 percent of
participants, depending on the age group considered, were in optimal heart
health. In contrast, more than half of participants at any age had at least one
risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Overall, about 60 percent of men and 56 percent of
women would develop cardiovascular disease at some point after age 55, the
study found. For those who were in optimal heart health at age 55, 40 percent
of men and 30 percent of women would develop the disease. The study will be
published Nov. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Source: Live Science
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