A Matter of the Heart (Your Health Magazine)

With most Canadians having at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, we can all show a little more love for our hearts

In the summer of 2003, Rick Francis enjoyed a pleasant summer afternoon with neighbours riding around Pigeon Lake on their motorized boat. At the end of the ride as he climbed the stairs from the dock of his neighbours' cabin, Francis found each step becoming more and more difficult. "I didn't feel right," he says. Luckily, the neighbour was a nurse, who noticed that his skin had turned an alarming shade of grey.

She took him to the nearby Wetaskiwin hospital, where tests indicated possible heart problems, although Francis had apparently not suffered a heart attack. It took some further tests months later to discover that the main artery going into his heart was 90% blocked with plaque – a buildup of cholesterol. A series of angioplasties have since helped Francis recover.

Most people wouldn't pick the 60-year-old to be a heart patient. Trim at 150 pounds and careful to avoid fatty foods, he had been active most of his life. That is, until he was forced to become sedentary for a number of months due to an injury he sustained after falling from a ladder.

Francis also hadn't had a blood cholesterol test done for four years, although a previous reading had shown slightly elevated levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol. It didn't help that he was experiencing high stress levels from his job as a car dealership service consultant. Inactivity, blood cholesterol problems and high stress levels – any one of these are risk factors for heart disease. Combine them and the likelihood of developing a heart disorder increases. Francis's case is an example of why it's important to find out your risk of heart disease – and to take measures aimed at reducing that risk.

As matters stand, 80% of all Canadians have at least one risk factor for developing heart disease or cardiovascular disease, a broad term for a host of illnesses that can harm the heart. Heart disease remains the number one killer of Canadians, accounting for 22% of all deaths among males and 19% among females, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

While there are some risk factors you can't control – such as age, gender or family history – there are many you can control. Prime among them are lifestyle choices such as cutting back or quitting smoking, being physically active and controlling your weight. But even with these actions, there can be hidden dangers such as high blood pressure or elevated blood cholesterol levels that are only uncovered after tests ordered by your family doctor.

"You ought to know what your risk is. Visit your family doctor and have the checks done," emphasizes Helen Stokes, Capital Health's regional program manager for the Northern Alberta Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. "If you're a young, fit person who has cholesterol problems, you might need to take medication."

The preventive measures you can take will depend on your own individual circumstance, Stokes points out. If you are a smoker, then your first step is to reduce or quit smoking. If you are the kind of person who sits around all day, get moving, even if it's taking a few short walks or doing some gardening. If you're overweight, getting active and watching what you eat are places to start. Recent research suggests that inactivity is one of the primary causes of heart disease.

"There's evidence that it's better to be a little overweight and physically active rather than being thin and inactive," says Stokes. Note: "a little" overweight doesn't mean being obese – a condition that is becoming more common among Canadians.

Rising levels of both obesity and inactivity, especially among young people, are alarming health care professionals. Almost 40% of teenage girls are physically inactive, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. More than 30% of men and women in their 20s are overweight. Plus, the largest proportion of smokers is among young men and women between the ages of 15 and 29.

Combine those trends with an aging population, and "it's really a ticking time bomb," says foundation spokesperson Dr. Andreas Wielgosz. "An ounce of prevention is worth a lot more than a pound of cure in this case."

While you as an individual can take actions to reduce your risk of heart disease (see sidebar for tips), health care and government officials are also trying to find better prevention measures. But it's not easy, says Dr. William Dafoe, regional director of Cardiac Rehabilitation at the University of Alberta Hospital. "The advertising budget of the fast food industry and the smoking industry is many, many times the budget we have for health promotion efforts," he notes.

Unhealthy trends in society have also proven difficult to combat. "Kids coming home from school don't play outside enough," Dr. Dafoe notes. "They have video games and the computer. They have high-calorie foods." In addition, children today are often driven to school rather than walking.

Innovations such as leaf blowers, remote controls for televisions and garage doors tend to favour reduced physical activity. Trying to deal  with these trends will require a comprehensive approach, Dr. Dafoe says.

Capital Health medical officer of health Dr. Gerry Predy agrees. To encourage more physical activity, Capital Health and the City of Edmonton have sponsored radio and bus ads in a campaign called Active Edmonton during a recent three-month period. Plans for more such ads are being considered.

Health officials are encouraging municipalities to enact smoke-free bylaws and to design communities that provide more opportunities for activity such as walkways and bikeways. Developers are being encouraged to place residential areas closer to commercial zones so that people can walk rather than drive to stores and services.

And health experts are encouraged by a new Alberta law that requires schools to provide at least a half hour of physical education classes daily to students – classes that were severely reduced in an earlier era of spending cutbacks. Still, it all comes down to everyone making choices that enhance their health, says cardiac expert Dr. Dafoe. Even with tests ordered by a doctor, some risks might not be uncovered. "Even with those tests, it's still only an approximation of what is happening within the arteries of the heart. It's like a car that looks OK and runs fine, yet things are corroding inside. Regardless of what is found, people should live as healthy a lifestyle as they can."

- Dennis Hryciuk

Your Health Magazine - July - August, 2005 Issue

Disclaimer
Reviewed by Alberta clinical experts. Brought to you by HealthLink Alberta. Copyright.
This material is designed for information purposes only. It should not be used in place of medical advice, instruction and/or treatment. For more health advice call Capital Health Link at 780-408-LINK (5465) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In Alberta, call Toll-free: 1-866-408-LINK (5465)