Since hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia usually have no obvious uncomfortable symptoms at the beginning, it is easy for people to lose awareness and ignore the fact that these ‘invincible killers’ are quietly eating away at their health.
How serious is “three highs”? In the end, how serious is the problem of three highs? In the top ten causes of death in 2012 announced by the Department of Health, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), diabetes ranked 2nd/3rd/5th, and even hypertension, kidney disease, are also directly and indirectly related to the three highs. The total number of deaths from these diseases is 46,776, which is more than the first place of 43,665 people with cancer.
Influenced by the gradual westernization of national diet and living habits, the threat to cardiovascular health is also increasing. This shows that the threat to health and life caused by the diseases derived from the three highs cannot be ignored.
According to the national survey of three highs conducted by the National Health Bureau of the Department of Health, the prevalence of three highs (age-standardized prevalence rate) among people over 20 years old in 2002 and 2007 was 23.0% (26.3% for men and 20.1% for women). Moreover, the prevalence of hypertension tended to increase with age regardless of gender. In the prevalence rate of hypertension in all age groups, men exceeded women until the age of 60, and after 60, women exceeded men instead.
The prevalence rate of hyperglycemia among people over 20 years old was 7.6% (8.3% for men and 7.0% for women), and the prevalence rate of hyperglycemia also increased with age. In the two national surveys on the three highs, the prevalence of hypertension and hyperglycemia are on the rise.
As for the prevalence of high cholesterol in people over 20 years old, the prevalence rate was 9.7% (10.3% for men and 9.2% for women)/high triglyceride prevalence rate was 13.7% (18.3% for men and 9.8% for women), and both prevalence rates showed a decline. However, it is worth noting that when we look at the differences by age, we find that the lipid control has improved mainly in the older age groups, while the lipid status seems to have deteriorated in the younger age groups (before 40).
How to treat arteriosclerosis? Blockage 50%, change diet and life can still be saved
The problem of three highs and atherosclerosis are closely related. How exactly does atherosclerosis come about? The key lies in the damage and malfunction of the endothelial cells in the blood vessel wall.
Endothelial cells are originally healthy but gradually age with age. When combined with high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the function of endothelial cells is affected.
Once the endothelial cells malfunction, the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL cholesterol for short, commonly known as bad cholesterol) in the blood will enter the blood vessel walls in an endless stream and deposit on the vessel walls, forming atherosclerotic plaques and causing blockage of blood vessels.
Atherosclerotic plaque is like a large raised stone that blocks the middle of blood flow. When blood flows through it, the flow rate becomes faster and it is more likely to cause injury to the blood vessel wall and build up atherosclerotic plaque, making the blocked area narrower and accelerating the process of atherosclerosis.
When atherosclerosis reaches a certain level, not only do the walls of blood vessels lose their elasticity and become quite fragile, but atherosclerotic plaques also become cracked due to blood flow. These unstable atherosclerotic plaques are like unscheduled bombs in the blood vessels, which can cause acute embolism and block the blood vessels, leading to myocardial infarction or stroke in case of stripping.
Can atherosclerosis be reversed once it occurs? If the degree of arterial blockage is less than 50%, the process of atherosclerosis can be slowed down through diet, lifestyle changes and medication; however, if the degree of blockage is more than 70% – 80%, the process of atherosclerosis will be difficult to reverse.
What are the risk factors? Old age, three high, obesity, smoking
There are many risk factors known to the medical community, including: old age, male, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, obesity, smoking, family history of early-onset atherosclerosis disease, etc., all of which will worsen the situation of atherosclerosis.
1.Age
The function of endothelial cells in the walls of blood vessels deteriorates when you get older. In men, atherosclerosis usually occurs earlier and enters the risk period of atherosclerotic disease after the age of about 45; in women, atherosclerotic disease gradually increases after menopause (about 51 years old).
2.High blood pressure
No matter men or women, as long as after the age of 40, blood pressure will obviously climb up. According to a survey conducted by the National Health Bureau of the Department of Health in 2002, men’s systolic blood pressure rises by 0.5mmHg per year on average after the age of 40; women’s systolic blood pressure increases by 1mmHg. High blood pressure not only puts pressure on the walls of blood vessels, making them less elastic, but also tends to combine insulin malfunction/ high blood fat/ metabolic syndrome and other problems.
3.High cholesterol
When people say high blood fat, they usually refer to abnormal total cholesterol or triglycerides in the blood. Total cholesterol is mainly composed of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), and LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) and so on.
Since bad cholesterol will be oxidized and accumulated on the wall of arteries through endothelial cells, the accumulation will thicken the wall of blood vessels and, over time, lead to atherosclerosis, resulting in narrowing, blockage, rupture or bleeding of blood vessels, and even serious situations such as myocardial infarction or stroke, so it is often regarded as the culprit of atherosclerosis.
On the contrary, good cholesterol plays the role of “vascular scavenger”, which can bring the bad cholesterol to the liver for metabolism and reduce the chance of its accumulation in the walls of blood vessels, thus preventing atherosclerosis and protecting cardiovascular health.
Specially, people only know that eating less offal and high-fat food to lower cholesterol, but they do not know that excessive intake of calories, such as rice, pasta, bread, desserts, sugary drinks, etc., can also cause high cholesterol.
4.Diabetes
The main reason why diabetes is prone to cardiovascular disease is that the amount of glucose in the blood circulating in the body of diabetic patients is too high. Excess sugar can cause lesions and damage to the endothelial cells of the blood vessel wall due to glycation, allowing bad cholesterol to take advantage of the opportunity to further harm cardiovascular. A study in Finland followed patients with diabetes and coronary heart disease and found that the two groups had the same risk of myocardial infarction after seven years. Therefore, the United States national cholesterol education program in 2001, the third edition of the adult treatment guidance recommendations, diabetes will be regarded as equivalent to coronary heart disease, that is, diabetes patients must be actively treated.
5.Obesity
Obese people are prone to three high problems, in 1988 the American Heart Association re-determined obesity is a disease, and is the main risk factor causing coronary heart disease, especially abdominal obesity, must be given active treatment.
6.Smoking
Cigarette nicotine and many other particles and chemical toxic substances will stimulate / injury endothelial cells, so that blood vessels are easy to contract / not easy to relax, but also easy to occur thrombosis. According to surveys, the incidence of coronary heart disease in smokers is more than two times higher than non-smokers; sudden death due to heart disease is 5 to 10 times higher. If a person has both hypertension/hypercholesterolemia and smokes, the incidence of coronary heart disease is 16 times higher than that of people without these three risk factors.
What crises are easy to ignore? Work and family stress, air pollution and environmental hormones
Among the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, work and family stress are the most overlooked.
Whether it’s shift work/overnight work, overtime work, too many demands from bosses, job insecurity, or company reorganization, it can all have a negative impact on the body and mind. According to the latest research findings, if the lack of fairness and justice in the workplace leads to acute myocardial infarction, employees will find it difficult to return to work even after they are treated and recover their health. If the number of working hours per week exceeds 50 hours or more, the risk of developing hypertension will increase by 30%.
In addition to the workplace environment, the family may also bring pressure, such as couples’ relationship failure, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law problems, parent-child relationship tension, or the death of elders or relatives at home, as well as the family’s economic difficulties, etc., can lead to anxiety, sadness, resulting in insomnia / blood pressure rise, affecting cardiovascular health.
In addition, air pollution, environmental hormones, noise, sleep quality and cardiovascular disease are also closely related. In the 2008-2011 Coronary Heart Disease and Work-Related Factors Study at National Taiwan University Hospital, patients with sleep apnea accounted for one tenth of the coronary heart disease patients admitted.
Three highs are no longer the preserve of the elderly! Some people develop atherosclerosis in their 30s
In the past, people often think that hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia are the patent of the elderly, but recently the trend of three high diseases has become younger.
According to the results of the 2002 and 2007 national surveys, the prevalence of high LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) among young adults aged 30 to 60 years old has increased after 5 years of follow-up surveys, regardless of gender.
Some people have familial hypercholesterolemia and their bodies cannot metabolize cholesterol properly; however, most people eat too much and move too little, and smoke and drink alcohol, so that the concentration of bad cholesterol in the blood is too high. If a patient with familial hypercholesterolemia has a cholesterol level of 260-300 mg/dL or higher, many patients will develop significant atherosclerosis/acute myocardial infarction or early-onset coronary artery disease at the age of 30 to 55 years old if left untreated.
Since men generally start to enter the accelerated atherosclerosis phase at age 45, women start to enter the high-risk phase of atherosclerosis at the time of menopause (about age 51). In order to avoid regrettable events, it is recommended that everyone should actively prevent cardiovascular disease risk factors 10 years earlier, starting at the age of 35. Because 35 years old is usually the period when a person’s career is halfway up the mountain, it is often easy to put in work and unknowingly let the health capital accelerate the loss. Although age, gender, and family history are facts that cannot be changed, hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and smoking can be prevented and treated.