ORLANDO, FLA. (Ivanhoe Newswire)– February is American Heart Month and every year more than 800,000 people in the U.S. have a heart attack. Diet and level of exercise are well-known factors in your risk for a heart attack, but there are some hidden risk factors that can increase your chances.
Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a heart attack. Smoking is a much more important risk factor for a heart attack than high cholesterol, obesity, high blood pressure, or stress and if you smoke, your chance of dying from a heart attack is two to three times greater than that of a person who does not smoke. However, this risk is not only limited to tobacco.
Cynthia Fontanella, PhD, Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University says that “The common misconceptions and attitudes are that marijuana is harmless, which it’s not.”
In a study published in the American College of Cardiology, compared with tobacco, smoking marijuana causes a fivefold greater impairment of the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity and marijuana use is associated with twice the hazard death among those under 50 who suffered their first heart attack. Being a sports fan can also put your heart at risk. A Canadian study showed a 110 percent jump in spectators’ heart rates when watching a sporting event. And the loss of a child increased the risk for a heart attack threefold in the first week after the death and there was a 20 to 40 percent increase over the long-term.
One lesser-known factor that can decrease your risk is taking a bath. A Japanese study published in the journal heart found taking a daily bath was associated with a 28 percent lower overall risk of heart disease.
Sources:
https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/aa152439
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6157910/
https://www.onlinecjc.ca/article/S0828-282X(17)30903-0/fulltext
https://heart.bmj.com/content/106/10/732
Contributor(s) to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer and Editor.
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