Monday, December 29, 2008

Men and Heart Disease

According to an estimate, heart disease is the most common cause of death among men in the US. Nearly half a million of men die in US annually due to various heart diseases while more than 5.8 million men have already suffered a heart attack or angina pain.

Heart disease is more likely to occur in men than women. Among men, mortality rates for heart disease are higher than the rates for all forms of cancer combined. Additionally, more than 70% of premature heart disease deaths (i.e., before age 65) occur among men.

Heart disease has been rated as the number one killer of both men and women. However, men are more likely to suffer from heart diseases due to high risk factors. It is reported that a man is vulnerable to heart diseases from the age of 45.

Men and Heart Diseases – Facts and Figures
In 2002, 340,933 men died from heart disease making it the leading cause of death for men in the US.
About 8.9% of all white men, 7.4% of black men, and 5.6% of Mexican American men live with coronary heart disease.
The average age of a first heart attack for men is 66 years.
Almost half of the men who have a heart attack under the age of 65 die within 8 years.
Results from the Framingham Heart Study suggest that men have a 49% lifetime risk of developing coronary heart disease after the age of 40.
Major risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, tobacco use, diabetes, physical inactivity and poor nutrition.
Studies suggest that a 10% decrease in total cholesterol and obesity levels may reduce the development of coronary heart disease by as much as 30%.

Heart diseases comprise of various disorders and ailments of the heart as classified by the International Classification of Diseases. These diseases range from acute rheumatic fever, chronic rheumatic heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, coronary heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, congestive heart failure, and any other heart condition or disease.

Causes of Heart Diseases in Men
Men tend to develop heart disease at an earlier age than women. Various reasons have been given for this fact:

Lifestyle plays a major role in causing heart diseases in men. If this factor is controlled, the risk of heart diseases in men can be drastically reduced.
Recent studies have also shown a correlation between anger and heart disease, indicating that young men with lots of hostility and anger were more likely to have a heart attack before age 55.
The most widespread form of heat disease in men is coronary heart disease. In this disease, blood vessels that supply oxygenated blood to the heart become clogged.
Arteriosclerosis is a major factor here as the walls of arteries harden due to the accumulation of fats and other substances.
High blood pressure also poses major risks for both heart disease and stroke.
Over 3 million American men suffer from angina. Angina or chest pains are usually associated with the early stages of heart disease. Heart attacks have similar symptoms to angina attack and stroke; however chest pains last longer and are more intensely felt.

More than half of men who die from heart attacks do not experience any symptoms. African American men are 26% more likely than Caucasian men, and almost twice as likely as Hispanic men to die of heart disease.

According to the American Heart Association, the risk factors for heart diseases include:

Being male
Old age
A history of heart disease in the family
Smoking
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Alcoholism
Obesity
Physical inactivity
Stress
The symptom’s of heart disease vary in men and have a more dramatic onset than in women. And although men statistically have heart-related problems ten years earlier than women, they are more likely to recover from them.

Even though with proper preventive measures and education, there has been a decline in the mortality rate of heart diseases, yet men aged 35 to 44 are still at high risk for heart diseases. Thus, it is high time that men take care of their heart and health as heart diseases are very dangerous and can prove fatal if they are not treated on time.

Source : http://www.always-health.com/heartdisease_men.html

No comments: