Two
experts explain how lifestyle is key to lowering the risks of cardiovascular
disease
Heart disease is the major cause of death
worldwide so it came as little surprise to hear experts in cardiovascular
medicine and diabetes at last week's Asia Cardiocare Summit in Hong Kong
calling out for better awareness of the triggers of cardiovascular disease
(CVD).
That's because CVD, which is caused by a
gradual build up of fatty deposits in the walls of the coronary arteries, is a
bigger killer than a diseased heart, per se, and it's a condition that is
brought on our lifestyles: think diabetes, hypertension, obesity, smoking and
high cholesterol.
In fact, up to 70 to 80 per cent of CVD deaths
are in people with type 2 diabetes.
Recent research reveals that Southeast Asian
nations are going to witness the second biggest jump in diabetes patients at
161 per cent, with the figure going from 22.3 million in 2000 to 58.1 million
in 2030. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa rank top with 162 per cent.
"Asian people are getting fatter and have
a greater propensity to develop diabetes than Caucasian people for the same
amount of obesity," says Dr David Waters, Emeritus Professor at University
of California San Francisco.
Another related problem is high cholesterol,
which creates plaque to obstruct the blood flow, especially in the coronary
artery. Even though statins were invented in the mid-1990s and have been used
to stabilise and lower cholesterol ever since, the number of new patients with
high cholesterol continues to grow because of diet behaviour and poor lifestyle
choices.
Statins have several benefits and are also used
for reducing the risk of heart attack. They are sometimes dubbed the
"aspirin of the 21st century" for their perceived benefits in
cardiovascular health and relatively few side effects. Worldwide sales total
more than US$20 billion (Bt600 billion) annually.
Although people are better informed about high
cholesterol, many continue to ignore the risks, eating a diet that's high in
fat, doing nothing to reduce their weight, smoking and taking little exercise.
Dr Francis CC Chow, chief of service, Department
of Medicine and Therapeutics and head of the Division of Endocrinology and
Diabetes, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong says
it's difficult to convince people with bad habits to change their lifestyles.
He's started taking a more aggressive strategy by working closely with his
patients, encouraging intensive treatment and creating peer patient groups so
that those will problems can help each other in overcoming obstacles.
Dr Waters adds a huge problem for diabetes
patients is their failure to realise that once they are diagnosed, they need to
take several medications every day and if they develop heart disease, then the
medication factor increases, which means higher costs.
Diabetes patients also need to monitor blood
pressure, their cholesterol and any complications relating to CVD.
"It's a very complicated process and
takes both time and money. Many patients don't succeed in maintaining
treatment," he adds.
Dr Waters adds that while statins can help
prevent CVD, he doesn't bind patients with heart disease only to taking the
cholesterol-lowering drug since some CVD patients do better with a blood
thinner like aspirin.
In some cases, doctors prescribe statin
treatment for diabetes patients who have yet to show any CVD
Parinyaporn Pajee
The Nation
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