Coronary heart disease, any of my business?

Have you ever concerned about coronary heart disease (CHD)?  Many people think that only "elder people" will bother to prevent CHD, but findings of a recent survey showed that lifestyle and various conditions during childhood and adolescence may be associated with development of CHD later in life.

In this study in Finland, 2,229 children and young people of age 3 to 18 were interviewed and examined in 1980.  They were re-examined 21 years later with measurement of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), an increase of which is closely related to atherosclerosis and CHD.  It was found that if adolescents of age 12 to 18 had conditions such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and high LDL-cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol), their IMT measured 20 years later would be greater.  In other words, their chance of developing CHD is higher.  Young guys, would you still say "CHD has no business with me"?

In fact, refraining from smoking, having a healthy diet and adequate exercise are all important for prevention of CHD.  However, recent release on the interim findings of the "Millennium Sports Study" conducted by the Hong Kong Sports Development Board showed that exercise level of only 17% of adults and 19% youngsters aged 5 to 17 reached the standard for disease prevention, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States.  Moreover, about half of the respondents considered studying or working as more important than doing exercise.

Being a smart healthy person, if you are one of those without adequate exercise, it is now time to take action no matter you are young or senior.  If you are not sure whether you have enough exercise, you can visit Be Active, Be Fit of Mens Lifestyle in our website.  If you want to get further information on CHD, don't miss the Mens Health Line.

(Last Updated on 18-11-2003)