Heart disease is a number of abnormal conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels in the heart. One of the most common forms of heart disease is coronary artery disease or heart attack which is what happened when the coronary arteries or arterioles become blocked or broken, so that blood no longer reaches an area of heart muscle. It has a very high occurrence in Western countries such as America, with about 88.000 cases per year. There are certain factors causing the high number of heart disease cases in Western country. These factors are mainly related to human bad habit such as smoking, poor eating habits that leads to obesity, lack of physical activity, and stress.
About one third of the annual deaths from heart attack in America are due to smoking. The nicotine from cigarette could increase the heart rate and constrict the blood vessels, causing blood pressure to increase. Nicotine also stimulates the release of a hormone that causes the kidneys to retain water, which can further raise blood pressure. In addition, nicotine increases the tendency of blood platelets to form clots that could plug an artery. High blood pressure and excessive clots are two highly related factors that can trigger a heart attack.
Almost all Western people have poor eating habit; they eat a lot of red meat but less vegetable. This habit could lead to obesity, a condition of someone being very fat in a way that is not healthy. When someone is obese, the level of cholesterol in their body is imbalance with its removing substance, so the excess builds up along the walls of blood vessels, contributing to deposits called plaques. Plaques cause the thickening of blood vessels walls as well as damaging it, activating the formation of blood clot which could block the blood flow in the coronary artery. As a result, the heart muscle will suffer from a lack of oxygen and nutrition which will cause heart attack.
Unfortunately, the poor eating habit of many western people is not balanced by adequate physical activity. When people do physical activity, they burn the calories derived from what they eat. The amount of calories burned is equivalent with the intensity of that activity. Thus, lack of physical activity that occurs among Western people made calories being deposited in their body in the form of fat instead of being burned, and when the number of fat is getting too much, they can plug the arteries and cause heart attack. That is why, the combinations of poor eating habits and lack in physical activity can be fatal for our heart.
Stress is a pressure or worry caused by the problems in someone’s life and is commonly found among people who live in a highly busy and demanding environment like in almost all Western countries. Stress could affect the health of our heart, even though it is not in a direct way. When people are under stress, they tend to do things that might help them cope with it. Regrettably, those things are usually activities that can trigger heart disease such as smoking, uncontrollable eating behavior, and the lack of motivation to even do a slight move of the body. Moreover, physiologically, when people are under stress, some of their organs or organ systems may not work properly, thus increasing the blood pressure which is a leading factor to a heart attack.
Almost all factors causing heart disease in Western countries comes from human bad habits. However, those bad habits are not impossible to control. If we quit or do less smoking, exercise regularly, eat fruits and vegetables as well as reduce the intake of saturated fats, and live a happy life, we could reduce the risk of heart attack.
About one third of the annual deaths from heart attack in America are due to smoking. The nicotine from cigarette could increase the heart rate and constrict the blood vessels, causing blood pressure to increase. Nicotine also stimulates the release of a hormone that causes the kidneys to retain water, which can further raise blood pressure. In addition, nicotine increases the tendency of blood platelets to form clots that could plug an artery. High blood pressure and excessive clots are two highly related factors that can trigger a heart attack.
Almost all Western people have poor eating habit; they eat a lot of red meat but less vegetable. This habit could lead to obesity, a condition of someone being very fat in a way that is not healthy. When someone is obese, the level of cholesterol in their body is imbalance with its removing substance, so the excess builds up along the walls of blood vessels, contributing to deposits called plaques. Plaques cause the thickening of blood vessels walls as well as damaging it, activating the formation of blood clot which could block the blood flow in the coronary artery. As a result, the heart muscle will suffer from a lack of oxygen and nutrition which will cause heart attack.
Unfortunately, the poor eating habit of many western people is not balanced by adequate physical activity. When people do physical activity, they burn the calories derived from what they eat. The amount of calories burned is equivalent with the intensity of that activity. Thus, lack of physical activity that occurs among Western people made calories being deposited in their body in the form of fat instead of being burned, and when the number of fat is getting too much, they can plug the arteries and cause heart attack. That is why, the combinations of poor eating habits and lack in physical activity can be fatal for our heart.
Stress is a pressure or worry caused by the problems in someone’s life and is commonly found among people who live in a highly busy and demanding environment like in almost all Western countries. Stress could affect the health of our heart, even though it is not in a direct way. When people are under stress, they tend to do things that might help them cope with it. Regrettably, those things are usually activities that can trigger heart disease such as smoking, uncontrollable eating behavior, and the lack of motivation to even do a slight move of the body. Moreover, physiologically, when people are under stress, some of their organs or organ systems may not work properly, thus increasing the blood pressure which is a leading factor to a heart attack.
Almost all factors causing heart disease in Western countries comes from human bad habits. However, those bad habits are not impossible to control. If we quit or do less smoking, exercise regularly, eat fruits and vegetables as well as reduce the intake of saturated fats, and live a happy life, we could reduce the risk of heart attack.
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