Learning from Low Heart Disease Nations

Heart diseases are taking a hideous form year after year. The horrific nature of heart diseases can be ascertained from the fact that the number of people dying from various heart conditions has far surpassed the combined number of people dying from both HIV Aids and Cancer together. Owing to this rising mortality rate due to heart diseases, World Health Federation introduced an international campaign for fighting and preventing these ghastly heart diseases.

Heart Diseases

Heart diseases are various ailments and conditions that adversely affect the functioning of our heart. The most common among various heart diseases, ranging from genetic defects, clotting in blood vessels or infection, is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). It is the blocking of arteries that supplies blood to the heart. Irrespective of the race or gender of the person, heart diseases are among the leading causes of death.

Lowest and Highest Heart Disease Nations

Cardiovascular disease results in over 30% of global deaths, out of which approximately 80% deaths occur in developing countries.

The nations with lowest deaths due to heart diseases are as follows:

• France
• Australia
• Switzerland
• Japan
• Israel

The question here is what are these nations doing to keep the deaths due to heart diseases less in comparison to other nations? Though the exact causes of cardiovascular diseases are not yet found, they are closely associated with lifestyle issues and complications. Improper diet, including higher levels of saturated fats, lack of physical activity, higher levels of cholesterol and lack of knowledge about the early symptoms of the diseases are considered to be the major reasons for developing heart or cardiovascular diseases.

Keeping this in mind, we might want to conclude that these nations with the lowest death rates due to heart diseases might have a healthy standard of living. But, France, the surprise entry in the list, doesn’t really qualify on most of the healthy living indices, foremost among them being diet.

In spite of consuming high levels of saturated fats, people of France managed to keep this deadly disease away from them. Researchers are trying to correlate other parameters which might have contributed in keeping the people of France away from developing any cardiovascular diseases.

With the exception of French, lifestyle improvement remains the major reason for preventing the onslaught of any heart related problems.

On the other hand the nations with the highest rate of cardiovascular diseases are:

• Russia
• Bulgaria
• Romania
• Hungary
• Argentina

In the United States, heart diseases take nearly one of every four Americans. The question that arises here is what are they doing wrong? The answer in a word can simply be – Living. The people in these countries are living wrong.

The sedentary lifestyle of people living in these countries is primarily responsible for such high levels of cardiovascular diseases. If a whopping 90% of the cardiovascular diseases can be prevented through good lifestyle, the heart diseases can thus be said to be self inflicted or the result of making wrong lifestyle choices.

Reasons and Prevention

Apart from the genetically induced heart diseases, most of the heart diseases are caused mainly due to faulty or sedentary lifestyle. According to an estimate, 90% of the cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by making healthy lifestyle choices. Healthy diet, regular exercise, limiting the intake of alcohol and no smoking can go a long way in making a person’s hearty, happy and healthy.

The factors playing a major role in deciding the rate of risk of suffering from a cardiovascular or heart disease are age, gender, diet, physical activity, alcohol and tobacco consumption, genetic factors, pre-existing diseases and geographical location.

Most heart diseases affect older adults. In fact, with every decade, the chances of getting a heart disease increase threefold. Gender wise, men are more prone to develop a cardiovascular or heart disease than women. Of all the deaths caused by heart diseases, 80% among men and 75% among women are due to stroke and coronary artery diseases.

Higher intake of saturated or mono saturated fat is also associated with higher risk of developing a cardiovascular disease, with the exception of French! Consuming fibre rich fruits and vegetables regularly can dramatically reduce the chances of developing a heart disease in life. Limited physical activity, irrespective of the fact that a person is obese or not, has also been one of the reasons for developing a cardiovascular disease. Those who are suffering from obesity are at an even higher risk. On an average a person should aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity or exercise in a day, for at least four days a week. It not only reduces the risk of heart diseases, but also assists in losing weight and maintaining a good overall health.

Those who smoke or consume alcohol excessively are twice as likely to develop a heart disease than those who don’t. Apart from these factors having high blood pressure or cholesterol, high stress levels, suffering from diabetes or obesity can also strengths the chances of developing a heart disease.

With a large number of people losing their life to these fatal heart or cardiovascular diseases, it is very important to create proper awareness about the various diseases and how it affects a person. The most surprising thing is, just by paying a little more attention to what we are eating or how we are living and substituting the sluggish choices with healthy and active ones; we can dramatically reduce the chance of developing a heart disease.

According to the American Heart Foundation, incorporating whole grains into your family’s meals is a great way to keep your body healthy. Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, corn, or another cereal is a grain product. Bread, pasta, oatmeal and grits are all grain products. Whole grains contain additional protein, fibre and other nutrients that are usually lost in the refining process. They contain nutrients that are instrumental in preventing chronic diseases in your body and create a healthier alternative for your meals.

Access your lifestyle and see where are you going wrong and try to replace it with healthier habits because a healthy heart is a happy heart and a happy heart can keep you smiling long.