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Factors influencing the development of heart disease FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEART DISEASE
Air pollution causes heart disease
The burning of fossil fuels is thought to increase your risk of heart disease. Tiny airborne particles that are released from power stations, motor vehicles, burning wood and steel and cement plants are light and can travel 2000 to 3000 kilometers in air currents. According to Markus Amann, from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, these particles cause heart disease by inflaming the heart membranes. The United Nation's Economic Commission for Europe is planning to set up a team to investigate the problem.
Lack of sunlight raises your cholesterol
When our skin is exposed to sunlight, the cholesterol in our skin is converted into hormone precursors, which are then converted into vitamin D and testosterone. The cholesterol in your bloodstream then moves into your skin to replace what was lost. Therefore, regularly getting small amounts of sunlight on your skin can help to keep your cholesterol down, your bones strong, and your libido healthy, through increased testosterone production. This may be one of the reasons why shift workers have twice the rate of heart disease of the general population.
Too much iron can give you a heart attack
Iron is an essential mineral in our body that is mainly required for the transport of oxygen in the bloodstream. However, too much iron can do a lot of damage in your body. Iron has an oxidizing effect in our body, and if you have too much of it, it acts as a free radical. Iron can oxidize the cholesterol in your bloodstream, turning it into a much more harmful state.
Excess iron can also cause damage to the inner lining of your arteries (endothelium), making you more likely to develop atherosclerosis. It seems that too much iron interferes with the action of nitric oxide. This is a substance produced by our artery walls that dilates blood vessels, and has an anti inflammatory effect on the arteries. If you have some risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol, a fatty liver or diabetes, it is very important for you to have a blood test for iron. Menstruation in women, and blood donations by men, are considered to offer protection against heart disease because of the loss of iron. One study published in the British Medical Journal found that male blood donors have an 86 percent lower chance of having a heart attack than non-donors.
Sleep apnoea
Severe sleep apnoea is a bigger risk to your heart than smoking or high blood pressure. If left untreated, sleep apnoea can make you five times more likely to have a heart attack. Sleep apnoea is where the muscles of the back of the throat and tongue relax so much during sleep that they collapse and block the airways. When this happens a person stops breathing. After a few seconds to a minute, the brain detects that not enough oxygen is getting into the body. The brain then forces you awake so that you can take a breath. Typically this recurs several times each night. The common scenario is that a person will be snoring during their sleep, stop breathing momentarily, and then start choking or coughing. They fall back asleep straight away and start snoring again.
People who suffer with sleep apnoea are usually very sleepy during the day and experience poor concentration and irritability. The most common causes of this condition are obesity, alcohol consumption in the evening and nasal congestion. Not everyone who snores has sleep apnoea. This condition is diagnosed via an overnight sleep study, whereby you spend a night at a hospital and electrodes are taped to various parts of your body to monitor sleep quality and breathing.
Sleep apnoea can often be totally cured with diet and lifestyle champs such as losing weight, reducing alcohol intake, especially in the evening, and treating excessive mucous congestion in the sinuses and respiratory tract. Sleeping on your side rather than back usually helps too. More severe cases require the use of a CPAP (nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine. This is a nasal mask worn at night which pumps air into your upper airway to keep it open. This method is very effective but it can be difficult to get used to. Treatment with a CPCP machine removes the risk of heart disease incurred by sleep apnoea.
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