New Research in Medicine: CAD is a Problem for Young and Old

Based on public awareness alone, you might be led to think that obesity or diabetes is the single greatest health risk sweeping our nation today. However, if you thought that, you’d be led to the wrong conclusion. Coronary artery disease (CAD), otherwise known as coronary heart disease, has that dubious distinction, being the leading cause of death in the US. CAD can be a result of diabetes or being overweight, but it can also stem from smoking, high blood pressure, insufficient exercise, stress and excess cholesterol. Although CAD is popularly associated with middle-aged and older adults, new research reveals that CAD is a significant problem for those under the age of forty as well.

A team of Canadian and Spanish researchers examined the autopsies given by a Canadian hospital between 2002 and 2006. From these, they selected 243 autopsies of “individuals <40 years old who had died suddenly” and determined how many of these sudden deaths were caused by or related to CAD. The results are surprising: “37% of deaths in the group of 21 to 30 years old, and up to 80% of deaths in the group of 31 to 40 years old” were due to CAD. It was also determined that hypercholesterolemia and a high BMI were both to blame for “an increased risk of SD [sudden death] from CAD”.

While it’s nigh impossible to completely eliminate your chances of obtaining CAD, there are a number of things you can do to greatly decrease them. The advice we gave for diabetes and obesity applies here – exercise daily, and avoid calorie-rich foods – but there are additional preventative strategies as well, such as avoiding excess cholesterol, trans fats and sodium, shunning smoking and practicing stress-relieving activities daily. You might wince at the thought of working up a daily sweat and saying ‘no’ to a second slice of cake, but isn’t living a full life worth it?

Work Cited:

Arzamendi, Dabit, Begoña Benito, Helena Tizon-Marcos, Jose Flores, Jean François Tanguay, Hung Ly, Serge Doucet, Louis Leduc, Tack Ki Leung, Oscar Campuzano, Anna Iglesias, Mario Talajic and Ramon Brugada. “Increase in sudden death from coronary artery disease in young adults.” American Heart Journal. 161.3 (2011): 574-580. Print.