Heart Watch

More than genes, it is the way we live that determines our risk of heart disease, India’s number one killer, writes Sanchita Sharma.

More than bad genes, it is the way you live your life that determines whether you are at risk of cardiovascular disease or not. “Over 90 per cent of heart disease depends on how we live our lives, our stresses, what we eat and how active we are,” says Dr Salim Yusuf, Professor of cardiology at the McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

Dr Yusuf headed INTERHEART study, the world’s largest study on cardiovascular disease that followed 28,000 participants from 52 countries. It found that more than where you were born, what you did or how old you were, 90 per cent of first heart attacks could be attributed to risk factors that can disappear with lifestyle changes.

What puts Indians at higher risk is the way fat is distributed around their body. A Canadian study of four ethnic groups south Asians, Chinese, aboriginal populations and Caucasians found that for the same weight, south Asians had more body fat. Since Asians put on fat around their abdomen that further increases their risk of cardiovascular disease, a healthy diet becomes very important for prevention.

In India, people just don’t eat right. “People think they have a healthy diet because they are vegetarian, but they don’t. Indians eat too little protein that lowers heart-protecting good cholesterol, too much salt that raises blood pressure, and too much fat that clogs the arteries,” says Dr RR Kasliwal, consultant cardiologist, Apollo Hospital.

Adopting four healthy behaviours eating at least five fruits and vegetables a day, exercising for 2.5 hours a week, not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight reduces cardiovascular risk by over one-third, reports The American Journal of Medicine. “The heart-protective benefits begin the moment a person makes healthy choices, so start now,” says Dr Seth.