Consultancy Corner: Behavioural risk factors cause cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular disease can take the form of coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, valvular heart disease, stroke, or arrhythmias, also known as irregular heartbeat. 

Coronary artery disease is a common form of cardiovascular disease and is one of the leading causes of death across the world. For a person suffering from coronary artery disease, plaque grows on the walls of the coronary arteries until the blood flow to the heart’s muscle is limited or blocked. Some times a blood clot caused due to sudden rupture of plaque can result in an acute heart condition. Ample time has been invested in zeroing on the risk factors that increase a person’s chance of developing the disease. They can be classified as controllable and uncontrollable factors. Uncontrollable ones include family history, age, ethnicity and sex of the person. Controllable factors, also called behavioral risk factors, are lifestyle habits. These can be regulated and are called behavioural risk factors.  

Excessive use of tobacco, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, unhealthy diets, stress and use of alcohol fall under lifestyle habits that increase risk of cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is the biggest risk factor for stroke and plays a major role in heart attacks.  

High total cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease and stroke and this can be combated by switching to a healthy diet. Also, exercise and the right medication can modify blood lipid profile and normalise it. 

Physical inactivity acts as the biggest risk for heart disease and increases the chance by 50%.  Obesity, in turn, is a major risk for cardiovascular disease as it predisposes the person to diabetes, which again is a risk factor. A diabetic person is twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease. A pre-menopausal woman with diabetes will stand the risk of losing out the protective effect of estrogen to diabetes, thus increasing risk of heart disease significantly. 

A diet high in saturated fat heightens the risk of heart disease and stroke. Chronic stress, lack of social interaction, anxiety and depression can also be a contributing risk factor.  Consumption of alcoholic drinks beyond limit damages heart muscles and elevates the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Certain medicines such as the contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy are also known to increase the risk of heart disease. Cardiovascular diseases are preventable and with the right lifestyle and health choices, one can beat the behavioral risk factors that contribute to the rise of these diseases. It is important to keep track and recognise the warning signs which include chest pain, short breath, palpitations or irregular heart beat and constant fatigue. 

The first step towards reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases is having thorough knowledge of the effects of behavioral risk factors and the appropriate way to combat them. A healthy and balanced lifestyle can go a long way in ensuring that one stays away from the heart conditions that affect daily life.