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Written By: Admin | Updated : September 16, 2013 3:07 PM IST
Indian researchers have conducted a data mining exercise to find out important risk factors in increasing the chances of an individual having a heart attack. High blood cholesterol, intake of alcohol and passive smoking play most crucial role in severe, moderate and mild cardiac risks. Subhagata Chattopadhyay of the Camellia Institute of Engineering in Kolkata used 300 real-world sample patient cases with various levels of cardiac risk - mild, moderate and severe and mined the data based on twelve known predisposing factors: age, gender, alcohol abuse, cholesterol level, smoking (active and passive), physical inactivity, obesity, diabetes, family history, and prior cardiac event. He then built a risk model that revealed specific risk factors associated with heart attack risk.
Chattopadhyay explained that the essence of this work essentially lies in the introduction of clustering techniques instead of purely statistical modelling, where the latter has its own limitations in 'data-model fitting' compared to the former that is more flexible. He said that the reliability of the data used, should be checked, and this has been done in this work to increase its authenticity. I reviewed several papers on epidemiological research, where I`m yet to see these methodologies, used.
The study has been published in International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.
Ten tips to keep heart disease at bay
Earlier, a 2010 Lancet paper on the Burden of Disease in India found that Indians are the most vulnerable group to cardiovascular diseases in the world! A genetic mutation combined with unhealthy lifestyles is responsible for this shocking fact and increase of a number of lifestyle diseases like heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc. Most cardiovascular or heart ailments are caused by arterial wall thickening due to accumulation of fatty materials like cholesterol. While there s nothing we can do about genetic mutation, there are a number of things we can do to control the lifestyle factors that cause heart disease.
Kick the butt
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)estimates that smoking increases the chance of suffering from a coronary heart disease by two to four times by reducing blood circulation due to narrowed arteries. Scarily, 92 million out of India s 285 million smokers don t even know that it s bad for their heart. Along with cardiovascular diseases smoking is responsible for other diseases like cancer as well and affects almost every organ in the body. And if that s still not enough impetus to quit smoking, consider the fact that second hand smoke kills 600,000 people every year out of which 100,000 are children and 87% of deaths due to second hand smoke are due to cardiovascular diseases. So kick the butt now, if not for yourself then for your near and dear ones whom you re exposing to second hand smoke.
Various techniques to quit smoking
Drink moderately
Alcohol s effect on the heart is hotly debated. Numerous studies have found that people, who drink moderately, actually have better cardiovascular health than people who don t drink or those who do excessively. Binge drinking (drinking excessively in a short amount of time) too is linked to poor cardiovascular health.
Work up a sweat
Our current sedentary lifestyle has played a major part in the rise of cardiovascular diseases around the world. Lack of exercise leads to build-up of bad cholesterol which prevents the blood from flowing freely and causes hypertension, heart attacks, etc. Exercising plays a very important role in your cardiovascular health. It facilitates weight loss, lowers blood pressure, increases your good cholesterol level, improves blood circulation and allows your heart to pump more efficiently. In fact it helps reduce stress also by releasing feel good hormones called endorphins! Click here to read about cardio exercises that are good for your heart!
Sleep properly
It s been suggested in jest that Thomas Edison s light bulb is responsible for the current obesity pandemic. While that would be stretching the truth a bit too much, the fact remains that our current work-play around the clock routine does have a hand in the various lifestyle diseases. It has been suggested that initially our body s internal clock was adapted to the natural day-light schedule and exposure to artificial light has thrown it off-track.
Read how to deal with insomnia or sleep disorders
Reduce intake of saturated and trans-fats
They are basically two kinds of fats saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats are present in food items like butter, red meat, dairy products, chocolates, etc. and are known to raise LDL or bad cholesterol levels and most dieticians recommend limiting their intake. Trans-fats are unsaturated fats which have the same effect. Manufactured food items usually contain a lot of trans-fats and that s why nutritionists suggest avoiding them.
Load up on unsaturated and omega 3 fatty acids
Unsaturated fats are of two types mono-unsaturated (olive oil, nuts, peanut oil) and poly-unsaturated (sesame, cottonseed and soya bean oils). Both types of unsaturated fats are known to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) levels and boost up good cholesterol levels. Many dieticians suggest switching to olive oil, rice bran oil or other healthier oils. Omega 3 fatty acids are poly-saturated fats which are considered essential because they can t be manufactured by the human body and are present in marine and plant oils. Good sources include fish oils, milk compounds, flax seeds and nuts.
Take it easy
It s still not clear how stress causes heart disease. Most experts concede that its part of a snowball effect of obesity, blood pressure, heart disease, smoking, lack of exercise, insomnia, etc.
Reduce salt and sugar intake
While moderate intake of salt is necessary, too much is linked to various cardiovascular ailments, particularly hypertension. Most people end up consuming a lot of salt without actually realising it, because they aren t actually separately adding table salt to their food. Sugar on the other hand is an infamous culprit. Experts believe that the easy availability of sugar is fuelling the global obesity pandemic because we are naturally geared to seek it for the glucose our primary source of energy which was earlier available only through natural sources like fruits.
Load up on veggies and fruits
There s compelling evidence to suggest that people who eat more greens and fruits significantly lower their bad cholesterol levels and this also improves their digestive system and metabolism allowing the body to function better.
Get regular check-ups
There is no alternative to being well informed. Get regular tests to check your cholesterol levels, blood pressure and the ECG test. Doctors suggest that one should start getting checked either after turning 30. People who experience symptoms like chest pain, irregular heartbeats, shortness of breath, dizziness or discomfort shouldn t delay meeting a doc.
