Cardiovascular diseases are a sign of aging, as the body’s structures wear out more and more each year, blood pressure and cholesterol rise, and metabolism slows down. All these changes can lead to the progression of atherosclerosis in the heart vessels and increase the likelihood of a myocardial infarction or stroke.
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Not all factors can be controlled
“Cardiovascular diseases most often affect middle-aged and older people. However, to have fewer complications in older age, one should start taking care of themselves in middle age or even earlier,” says the cardiologist.
Cardiovascular diseases are most often caused by high blood pressure, cholesterol, increased glucose concentration, smoking, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption, and other harmful habits. Physical inactivity and overweight, which according to the speaker have recently become an increasing problem, also play a role.
Psychological and social factors also have a significant impact on cardiovascular diseases: prolonged high stress, anxiety, depression, social isolation when a person has no one to talk to, confide in, or comfort them. “However, there are factors we cannot control ourselves: age – the risk of cardiovascular diseases significantly increases in men from 45 years old, in women from 55 years old. The risk is also increased by chronic kidney and inflammatory diseases, and in women – early menopause and pregnancy complications,” explains the cardiologist.
Dietary habits are also a concern
According to him, heredity and genetic predisposition also play a significant role. If early atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, or stroke was diagnosed in men under 55 or women under 65 in the family, the risk for relatives to face the same diseases is higher.
It is believed that genetic factors explain about 40–60% of the risk of coronary heart disease, and a positive family history increases individual risk by about 1.5–2.5 times. However, heredity is not a verdict: a healthy lifestyle, regular preventive check-ups, and proper control of modifiable risk factors can significantly reduce this risk.
Diet also has a great influence. “Scientific data show that basal metabolism gradually slows down from about 20 years old: by 50 years, it decreases by about 2–3% per decade, and later this process accelerates even more. It is estimated that basal metabolism can decrease by about one-third from 20 to 70 years. For physically active people, this decrease is usually much slower because exercise helps preserve muscle mass and higher energy expenditure,” says the speaker.
At the same time, dietary habits after 30 years usually remain quite stable: a person continues to eat similarly to their youth, although their energy needs are already lower. If physical activity also decreases and calorie intake begins to exceed the body’s needs, body weight increases. This then raises the likelihood of risk factors for arterial hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and other heart and vascular diseases.
To prevent these risk factors, the cardiologist recommends moving every day, as movement stimulates metabolism, eating as varied food as possible and not overeating, sleeping at least 7 hours, engaging in a favorite activity – whether work or hobby – and having strong social connections – good relationships with relatives, friends, colleagues, or neighbors.
