Cardio Vascular Disease and Some of its Causes

Cardiovascular disorder is a general term given to describe a wide range of conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels. There are two main groups of risk factors. The first are those risk factors that can’t be changed, such family history or gender.

The second category of risk factors are those than can be affected by your choices and behaviours and include things like, obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, lack of exercise and adult onset diabetes. This is the more dangerous group of risk factors and will more often result in heart problems. However by modifying or eliminating these risks, we have the ability to reduce the chance of being afflicted with cardio vascular diseases.

The list of cardio vascular diseases includes rheumatic heart sickness, irregular heartbeat, stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure and congenital heart failure. As far as age is concerned, the majority of people in high risk groups are between 35 and 64 years old. That is an age range that’s younger than I would have expected, but then heart disease is a leading cause of death in America.

Due to the life style of many Americans the death rate will be even worse in the years to come, unless individuals are prepared to make some fairly drastic changes in the way they live. The high obesity rate in the United States in youngsters as well as adults is staggering. The stresses of high pressure urban life also contribute to the incidences of high blood pressure. Type II adult onset diabetes is no longer just an adult ailment, but also now a disease appearing among adolescents. Once again, looking for causes, the finger is pointed directly at obesity.

There is hope for reducing the incidence of heart disease. More information is available to the public about the high stakes involved in modifying the risk factors before a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease is made. But, the problem can be hidden until it is too late. A routine annual physical with your health care provider is a good step to take and an easy one. Listen to what you’re told about your personal risk factors. But honestly, your health is in your own hands. No one needs to be told if they’re overweight or inactive, but it seems that many people need a bit of a kick now and then to take the steps necessary to fix the problem.