Want to Live Long? Change Your Lifestyle Now

(Photo : Matthew Henry, Burst)
Researchers want everyone, especially the younger people, to improve their diet and workout more often to lower the risk for cardiovascular diseases.

A new comprehensive analysis of the long-term risks of high bad cholesterol level have once again highlighted the importance of good eating habit and regular workout.

The study published in the medical journal the Lancet on Tuesday claimed that people that are 45 years old and below concluded that the earlier you change your lifestyle to fix the high cholesterol level, the better it is for your heart.

At least 400,000 people from 19 different countries participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 30 to 85 years old.

After grouping them according to their age and gender, the researchers have found out that people that are younger than 45 years old have the highest risk for heart problems caused by bad cholesterol.

Men under 45 have the highest risk of suffering from non-fatal heart problems or stroke by the time they're 70, with 29 percent. Other cardiovascular risk factors, like overweight, were also considered. For men that are 60 years old and older with the same factors have a 21 percent risk.

For the women category, the age group under 45 have 16 perfect, while the older group has 12 percent.

Barbara Thorand, the author of the study, has suspected that it is possibly due to longer exposure to the harmful lipids in the blood. The idea is the longer bad cholesterol circulates in your body, the more you put your heart in danger.

With this, researchers recommended that people with high level of bad cholesterol should change their lifestyle as young as possible to prevent unwanted heart diseases. Talking to the doctor for medications could also help too.

The study is conducted by the German Research Center for Environmental Health in Germany.

Reducing Bad Cholesterol

Dr. Roger Blumenthal, who is among the proponents of the current American Heart Association's guidelines for cholesterol treatment, praised the study and called it "very helpful to clinicians and patients".

Cholesterol is a combination of fats and protein found in your cells that are needed to create various essential compounds like hormones, vitamin D, and some enzymes for food digestion.

It is classified into three: HDL, LDL, and VLDL. HDL (high-density lipoprotein) is often called "good cholesterol" because it carries excess cholesterol back to the liver for disposing of. LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and VLDL (very low-density lipoprotein), on the other hand, are considered as "bad cholesterol" they plague up in your arteries and cause blockages. Once your arteries become narrow, it will cause hypertension, heart problems, or even stroke.

Dr. Blumenthal said that avoiding a sedentary lifestyle is a good step to control your cholesterol level. Practice working out for at least 30 minutes a day for five weeks. He also suggested refraining from using tobacco products, including smoking.

Keep your body on its ideal weight by consuming the proper amount of calories, he also said.

According to the US dietary guidelines, average adult women should eat between 1,600 to 2,400 calories while 2,000 to 3,000 for men daily.

Based on the report of the World Health Organization, heart disease and stroke have been the world's biggest killer diseases for the last 15 years. In 2016 alone, at least 15.2 million deaths were attributed to it.

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