Did you know that one person dies every 30 seconds from heart disease? That would be a total of 2600 deaths every single day! Most people especially the youth think that heart diseases or what we call cardiovascular diseases only inflict older people. There might be a level of truth in this statement but, it is only a matter of time that this silent killer reaches the younger generation. To explain further, a cardiovascular disease is an illness that affects the heart and the heart vessels. This family of diseases is the number one cause of death as well as disability in the United States. Based on research, the disease is a result from a vascular injury that may have accumulated since adolescence. From this, it is concluded that primary prevention should be started as early as childhood.
A cardiovascular disease may be seen in different forms. The most common forms are caused by an obstruction or perhaps a narrowing of the coronary arteries. These are vital blood vessels since they are the ones that deliver blood to the heart. The disease is call coronary artery disease (CAD). This deadly disease does not happen in an instant just like most cardiovascular diseases. It takes time for it progress. The common mistake done by people is their ignorance of such disease and the abuse that they inflict on their bodies. People also refuse to consider what their bodies need and oftentimes neglect it. As a result, people are taken by surprise by the disease. By the time that a cardiovascular disease is detected, it has already progressed to an advanced state and most of the time can no longer be properly managed.
What is important to keep in mind is that these diseases do not only kill the elderly, it targets everyone from ages 35 and up. Not only that, facts report that there is one out of four Americans with cardiovascular diseases that struggle with the complications that the disease has brought them. Their disability has resulted to more hospitalizations every year!
Knowing the terrifying and deadly consequences brought about by cardiovascular diseases, there is therefore stress on its prevention and modification of risk factors involved such as physical activity, healthy diet and avoidance of smoking. Did you know that smokers have twice the risk of having the disease than non smokers? Research reveals the ugly truth about this addicting habit. About 1/5 of 1 million deaths yearly from cardiovascular diseases is due to smoking. A sad fact is that despite this, there is an estimated 1 million youth that become habitual smokers annually. Did you know that people who live an inactive lifestyle have a doubled risk of getting the disease than those who are physically active? Sadly, even with this fact, survey reveals that more than half still lead a sedentary life. Lastly, did you know that obese people have a greater risk of having cardiovascular diseases? Reports say that in spite of these researches and efforts made by health professionals, few have actually taken these into consideration.
In order to ensure that you will not be a candidate for this disease, a call for a total health and lifestyle overhaul is much needed. Especially with the lifestyle of people nowadays, it is very hard to comply with a healthy and balanced way of life. This is not only for the elder people; youngsters are encouraged to participate as well. All in all, before you go on living your life, please do ask yourself this question; are you ready for the silent killer?
