Children being set up for heart disease later on in life

	Tweet

A new study by Canadian researchers says that clogged arteries show up in children, and fatty diets and a lack of exercise are setting children up for heart problems later on in life.

Dr. Sanaz Piran, an internal medicine resident at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and her colleagues reviewed data on 3,630 children, ages 5 to 18, who took part in 26 studies in Australia, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States.

They say the primary prevention of heart disease should start in childhood.

The studies reviewed used noninvasive methods to measure arterial blood flow and the thickness of artery walls in children with and without heart disease risk factors and found that in many cases, children with heart disease risk factors showed early signs of Atherosclerosis.

The researchers say the findings highlight the need for parents and doctors to prevent and treat cardiovascular risk factors in children.

They believe diet and exercise are especially important to curb the escalating problem of childhood obesity.

Piran says obesity puts children at risk for High Blood Pressure, diabetes and High cholesterol levels and children are eating too much fatty and processed foods.

Piran advises that parents need to involve their kids in regular exercise activities and cut down on fatty meals, emphasizing healthy food such as vegetables, not smoke in the presence of children and, if there’s a family history of High cholesterol, children need to have their cholesterol levels checked.

She says the very things advocated for adults apply to children and families need to adopt a family-oriented approach to cardiovascular prevention and to addressing the risk factors.

The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, in Chicago. 

RELATED STORIES:
Scientists turn skin cells into beating heart muscle   Too many people get angioplasties, study suggests   New Blood Thinner May Lower Chances of Clots in High-Risk Heart Patients: FDA   Heart Damage After Chemo Linked to Stress in Cardiac Cells   What’s good or bad for the heart, may be the same for the brain   Warfarin in Heart Failure   Increased Sudden Cardiac Death Rate Among HIV Patients   Air pollution level changes in Beijing linked with biomarkers of cardiovascular disease   Lack of basic evidence hampering prevention of sudden heart attacks in sport   Blacks Less Likely to Get Help on Scene After Cardiac Arrest: Study   Heart attack patients taken to PCI hospitals first treated faster   Cameron Health’s under-skin ICD safe, effective

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]