2023-04-27 09:03:49
In France, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health and Prevention1, 15 million people would be treated for cardiovascular disease or risks. While the vast majority of them are over 40, more and more young adults are suffering from cardiovascular problems such as heart failure2 or high blood pressure (5 to 6% of hypertensive French people are under 40 years old3). This early hypertension, which appears between the ages of 30 and 40, would have a deleterious long-term impact on brain functions according to a new American study 4 who followed a cohort of 427 participants. By comparing their brain scans at the age of 75, the researchers found that participants with hypertension as early as their 30s had on average significantly lower brain volumes as well as poorer white matter integrity than those with normal blood pressure at the same age. Both of these factors are associated with dementia. The analyzes also showed that certain brain alterations, including the decrease in the volume of the gray matter and the frontal cortex, were more marked in men. Researchers hypothesize that this gender difference is related to the protective effects of estrogen before menopause.
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Heart problems, signs to recognize at all ages
Therefore, for Rachel Whitmer, lead author of the study, this ” really demonstrates the importance of risk factors early in life and that aging well requires self-care throughout life “. Thus, it is essential to pay close attention to your heart health, from an early age. This principle goes once morest popular belief, a large number of people thinking they are too young to be affected by heart problems.4. This erroneous belief sometimes pushes us to ignore or minimize the signals of distress that our heart sends us. THE Dr Ameet Bakhaia cardiologist at Spire Bushey Hospital (UK), recently compiled a list of ten symptoms to be taken lightly. Some of them are quite well known and easy to link to cardiovascular problems: palpitations, chest discomfort with feeling of oppression, rapid heartbeat or arrhythmia, severe pain in the left arm (which may be a sign of myocardial infarction), etc. Others, on the other hand, are more subtle or may have another cause, which is why they are sometimes overlooked or misinterpreted. This is particularly the case dizziness when getting up quicklywhich can also be due to orthostatic hypotension (a drop in normal blood pressure when changing position suddenly), swollen legswhich can be caused by poor blood circulation as well as real heart problems, shortness of breathwhich may have a cardiac or pulmonary origin and difficulty leaning forward, which may simply be of mechanical origin. Nevertheless, having several of these “discreet” or ambivalent symptoms at the same time should alert and deserve a visit to the doctor or cardiologist.
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Move earlier
To take care of your cardiovascular health and limit the risks, it is possible to put in place strategies. Adopting healthy habits is already very effective. We can thus begin by opting for a healthy diet inspired, for example, byMediterranean diet or of the DASH diet designed to reduce and prevent hypertension. Meditation and better stress management are then recommended in order to limit the risk of cardiac pathologies. But above all it is essential to get moving as soon as possibleas recalled by a Finnish study 5 who was interested in the harmful consequences of adolescent sedentary life on the heart. After analyzing the cardiac structure of 530 participants aged just 17 with respect to their level of physical activity, the researchers found that the most sedentary among them had a three times greater increase in cardiac mass than in the most athletic. However, whenan enlarged heart, the walls of the organ thin, expand and weaken. Dilated cardiomyopathy can ultimately lead toheart failure, that is to say a difficulty of the heart to pump blood correctly to the organs. These results were observed in adolescents regardless of their obesity status. Finally, it should be noted that the practice of a light physical activity was not associated with heart problems, on the contrary, it was correlated with a better functioning of the heart.
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A brain and a heart at the top
to age well
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#act #early
