Rise in heart disease linked to obesity and diabetes
By WDIO
Doctors at Essentia Health say heart disease rates are rising after decades of decline, with obesity and diabetes driving the increase
They tell us that the initial decrease was because of less people smoking and better car for blood pressure issues. But, in the last 5 to 10 years an epidemic of obesity and diabetes is reversing that downward trend
Cardiologist Catherine Benziger said it is important to know your risk factors for heart disease. That includes getting tested for diabetes or pre-diabetes, along with knowing your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar numbers
“If you have any of the risk factors for heart disease, like maybe you’ve gained a few pounds, maybe your doctor’s told you that you have prediabetes or diabetes, maybe you’ve had high blood pressure when you’ve gone to the dentist or the doctor, it’s really important to know what are your other risk factors and what is your heart disease risk,” Benziger said. “We have tests that we can do, like a coronary artery calcium scan or a stress test to be able to evaluate if people have heart disease, especially if they’re having symptoms. The symptoms that we worry about are chest pain, chest tightness, shortness of breath, those types of things are signs of heart blockages or heart failure.”
“The thing that really surprised me is how much obesity and diabetes is really contributing to the rise in cardiovascular disease. Our health system is honestly not prepared to deal with the sheer number of people who are going to be experiencing heart attacks and heart failure over the next decade or two,” Benziger said. “That’s going to be really important for us to start taking charge of our health and addressing these risk factors now to prevent overwhelming our health system in the future.”
Benziger also said everyone should see a doctor regularly starting in their 30s to get their risk factors assessed
