increases the risk of death from heart attack

A balanced diet and physical activity in the first 20 years of life are important factors to keep young people away from obesity and, therefore, from atherosclerosisa condition characterized by obstruction of the passage of blood in coronary, cerebral, renal arteries and the aortasays the doctor Pedro Rivera Lara.

Rivera Lara, head of Cardiovascular Emergencies at the Cardiology Hospital of the Siglo XX National Medical Center, of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), pointed out that although it is a chronic process that leads to the appearance of the disease, there is evidence that with cardiovascular risk factors at an earlier agethe first atherosclerotic plaque lesions might begin.

Risk factors

Conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as age (45 years in men and 55 years in women), accelerate the process of degeneration of the arteries, which manifests itself in two of its main expressions: myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular disease.

The IMSS cardiology specialist reported that in Mexico, Of people who suffer from atherosclerosis and suffer a heart attack, 27 percent have fatal consequences.

However, he added, with the strategies applied in the IMSS this rate was reduced to 14.9 percent and, even, in this High Specialty Medical Unit that record dropped to less than 9 percent.

Through primary preventionhe highlighted, good control can be maintained of the two main cardiovascular risk factors that predominate in the Mexican population, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, systemic arterial hypertension, dyslipidemias such as hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia, as well as obesity, triggers in the development of this pathology.

In Social Security, he said, there are medications and care modules such as DiabetIMSS that seek to improve the lifestyle of the beneficiary through nutritional guidance, physical activities appropriate for the disease and timely identification of comorbidities.

Disease that can be prevented

Despite atherosclerosis has no cureDr. Rivera Lara pointed out that It can be prevented from early stages with a healthy lifestyle such as aerobic exercise, weight control, reduction in alcohol and tobacco consumption, monitoring of LDL cholesterol levels in vulnerable populations, so the condition might delay its appearance for a few decades.

The heart or the brain

Likewise, he expressed that Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Mexicowith a record of 105,752 deaths in 2022, more frequent in men than women.

He acute myocardial infarction It is the most frequently associated cause of atherosclerosis, with an overall mortality rate of 27 percent of cases, he indicated.

He also highlighted that another manifestation of atherosclerosis is cerebrovascular accident. Through the Brain Code program, Social Security treats patients within the first 4 hours of the event, with the aim of reducing the risk of disability and loss of life.

He detailed that in the IMSS, in 2015 cardiovascular and circulatory diseases were the first cause of years of healthy life lost due to premature death and disability, in 2018 they were the first reason for outpatient consultation (19 million), third reason for hospital discharges (99 thousand) and fifth reason for consultation (800 thousand) in Emergencies, according to the Report to the Executive, 2018-2019.

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