Good news for middle-aged adults who have avoided obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. New research indicates they are far less likely than others to experience heart failure in their later year.
A 45-year-old without those three key risk factors has as much as an 86 percent lower risk for heart failure compared with someone with poor control of weight, blood pressure and blood sugar according to Dr. John Wilkins, a cardiologist on the faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
The new report indicates that while there are therapies available once heart failure develops, the most effective strategy is to prevent heart failure in the first place. The disabling condition occurs when the heart can no longer pump enough blood and oxygen throughout the body.
For this study, Wilkins analyzed data from four heart studies launched across the United States between 1948 and 1987.Through 2007-2008, the researchers tracked outcomes for over 19,000 men and women whose heart health was assessed at age 45. The investigators followed another 24,000 whose heart status was determined at age 55.
Heart failure developed in nearly 1,700 participants tested at 45 and in almost 3,000 of those examined at 55. But men who were free of high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity at 45 went on to live free of heart failure almost 11 years longer than men who had all three conditions. For women, the advantage was about 15 years, the study found.
On average, men and women without any of those three heart risks lived 35 years and 38 years longer without developing heart failure.Similar trends were seen among those assessed at 55.
It’s obvious that the majority of adults need to adjust their behavior, making some pretty intense changes to their eating habits and physical activity.