Never too Late for a Healthier Heart

Comment:

This article shows how it is never too late to start a healthier lifestyle and benefits can always be found from it. 

Research:

Although a healthy lifestyle can help prevent heart problems later on in life it is never too late to start. Undertaking a healthier lifestyle after a heart attack can greatly help with the prevention of another heart attack or stroke. 

The study which was carried out over 5 years on a global scale, collecting data from 32,000 people in 40 countries. 

They were asked how often they consumed foods including milk, vegetables, fruits, grains, fish, nuts, meat and poultry. They were also questioned about lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcohol consumption and exercise.

“A healthy diet was defined as one including a high intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts, with more fish than meat, poultry or eggs.”

Those who were categorized under this healthy lifestyle had a 14% less chance of having another heart attack and 19% loss of risk of stroke. Furthermore the risk of dying from heart disease was reduced by 35%. 

All of the results can be found at the American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal. Study leader Dr Mahshid Dehglan, from McMaster University in Canada, said: “At times, patients don’t think they need to follow a healthy diet since their medications have already lowered their blood pressure and cholesterol – that is wrong.

Dietary modification has benefits in addition to those seen with aspirin, angiotensin modulators, lipid-lowering agents and beta blockers.

Physicians should advise their high-risk patients to improve their diet and eat more vegetables, fruits, grains and fish. This could substantially reduce cardiovascular recurrence beyond drug therapy alone and save lives globally.”

Despite differing food habits, a healthy diet was associated with prevention of recurrent heart disease throughout the world in both rich and poor countries.

The original article can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/12/03/healthy-diet-cut-stroke-heart-attack-risk_n_2232031.html?utm_hp_ref=uk-health-news