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Brody Popham

Mr. Rudebusch

English Composition IV

7 January 2019

Heart Attacks: Genetic versus Lifestyle

According to the American Heart Association, the AMA, “About 2,300 Americans die of

cardiovascular disease each day, an average of 1 death every 38 seconds.” The numbers of

Americans that die from a problem that can be solve with a few simple steps is astronomical.

Health, especially heart health, is one of the most important thing to stay on top of. Everyone

knows that your heart is responsible for keeping you alive, and can either make or break your

health in general. A healthy outlook on life can be diminished by many bad habit like not

exercising, not eating the correct diet, and having other bad habits like smoking. Once someone

is close to having those factors of a heart disease, high blood pressure or obesity, or those that are

genetically bound for someone to have a heart disease, the stress and anxiety can skyrocket. This

can be a very scary, inevitable feeling, but with the right tools, a heart disease can be fought. Not

only can having a heart disease be one of most stressful feeling, but the time it takes to better

your health leave you feeling doomed. Even though there are many challenges that one might

have to face while trying to better their heart, with working out the correct amount, eating the

right foods and the right amount of those food, quitting bad habits such as smoking, and

maintaining a healthy weight, anyone can have a healthy heart.

Exercising to maintain a healthy weight and healthy heart can not only prevent genetic

heart problems, but also turn you in a completely different direction to a healthy lifestyle. This
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topic can be very difficult, especially for those that have a busy lifestyle and might not have to

required open times to get some exercise in. Though exercising might not be difficult in it of

itself, finding the necessary time to achieve this goal might pose a challenge for some. In one of

the largest observational studies on fitness and heart disease, researchers examined data collected

from nearly a half-million people in the UK Biobank database. They found that people with

higher levels of grip strength, physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness had reduced risks of

heart attacks and stroke, even if they had a genetic predisposition for heart disease. Through this

research, those that had a good handle on their exercise had significant reduced risk factors, even

those with a genetic predisposition. Having a genetic predisposition does not mean that those

people are doomed and have no hope. Just having a good grip on exercise alone can reduce the

severity of a genetic predisposition. Not only should those that have a genetic predisposition

increase their exercise time to strengthen their heart, but also those that need a lifestyle

adjustment to avoid any heart related diseases. Jeffrey Fisher, MD, a cardiologist, clinical

professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and an attending physician at New

York-Presbyterian Hospital, recommends exercise for people experiencing mild to moderate

stress: “When people start to exercise and feel the endorphins, they start to feel better both

physically and mentally…. Exercise has also been shown to reduce the risk of death after heart

attack.” Those that change their lifestyle aspect to prevent any disease can be beneficial in more

than one way. People start to feel better mentally as well as hold back that risk factor of a heart

attack. The release of those ‘feel good chemicals’ makes any feel great regardless of what they're

doing, and those chemicals are released greatly throughout any exercise process. Not only are
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you preventing any heart related disease by altering your lifestyle to include exercise, but you're

also mentally helping yourself.

Eating healthy not only makes you feel good all around, but it can prevent several genetic

diseases as well as any possible predispositions that might arise from an unhealthy lifestyle.

While eating healthy is almost never cheaper than swinging through a cheap fast food place, the

benefits outweigh the cost tremendously. Finding the time to eat healthy can also be a struggle. It

might be faster and easier to warm up a quick frozen meals versus taking the time to make a

healthy stir fry, perhaps. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the

CDC, a nation health protection agency, “The risk for heart disease can increase even more when

heredity combines with unhealthy choices, such as eating an unhealthy diet.” Often times if you

inherit a predisposition, that problem is already going against you. Those that combine a

predisposition, especially one that is inherited, and combine that with unhealthy choices can be a

catastrophe. Not only can your health depend on how healthy you food is, but also the process of

adjusting the types of food you incorporate in your lifestyle. According to Dr. Jeffrey Fisher,

“The quality and quantity of the types of food you put into your body are important," and he

recommends that consumers should "Look for foods that are high in nutrients but low in

calories.” Without completely changing your diet, a few adjustments can completely turn your

unhealthy habits and lifestyle, into new ones that are going to make you feel better. Not only will

reducing the quantity, and increasing the quality of your food help just your heart’s health, but

also your whole body in general feel good as well as look good.
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Breaking a bad habit, like smoking, is another factor in improving your heart health. Like

the opening statistic showed, heart related diseases and disorders kill thousands of people every

day. Not only can a heart disease can kill someone, but also a bad habit like smoking. The

tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing

more than 7 million people a year. More than 6 million of those deaths are the result of direct

tobacco use while around 890 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to secondhand

smoke. According to the World Health Organization, an organization whose role is to direct

international health within the United States,

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. More than

half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2008 were in men …. In 2008, heart

disease caused almost 25% of deaths—almost one in every four—in the United

States.

Combining both a genetic predisposition as well as a habit like smoking can be a recipe for a bad

disaster. Not only does the bad habit of smoking kill thousands, but also the fact that over a

quarter of deaths in just one year were related to smoking. Throughout life many people will

obtain bad habits that often stick around and ruin their lifestyle behind the scenes. According to

the CDC, “About half of all Americans (47%) have at least one of the three key risk factors for

heart disease: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking.” With smoking being one of

the three key factors, and 47% of people including one of those key factors in their lifestyle, the

chance of getting a heart disease is more likely than not. Bad habits in a lifestyle that can

contribute to even more health issues, like smoking, can cause an even more poor quality of life.
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Finally, weight can have a huge impact on the general health of your heart. Though it

may be hard to lose weight, it is crucial to be able to shed off a few pounds if you are considered

overweight. According to Paula Greer, a Midwifery Nurse, “being overweight increases your

risks of Heart disease, Hypertension and Diabetes.” Being overweight causes your body to have

to work even harder than needed, causing more stress on your heart. Not only can being

overweight cause more stress on your heart, but it can lead to other medical complications, like

diabetes and hypertension. Combining both the exercise aspect, as well as eating healthy, losing

weight can be an easier process than thought to be. The more overweight someone becomes, the

more vulnerable their body becomes to complications like higher blood pressure. The higher

someone's blood pressure becomes, the more their heart has to work. The more someone's heart

has to work, the more wear and tear is experienced. Not only does losing weight make you feel

good and look good, losing weight can also better your health in more than one aspect.

With working out, eating correctly, breaking bad habits, and maintaining a healthy

weight, anyone can have a healthy heart. Though someone can either have a genetic

predisposition, or a poor lifestyle decision making skill, anyone can have a healthy heart. Keep in

mind that according to the AMA, “About 2,300 Americans die of cardiovascular disease each

day, an average of 1 death every 38 seconds.” That number can easily be anyone within the next

minute. Talk to your family and friends and see who is at risk for a possible predisposition and

inform them of what needs to be done to turn the odds away from them. The results of doing

something good for yourself and heart health can be very rewarding, while not doing anything

for your health can be detrimental. The rewarding feeling of having a healthy heart and healthy
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lifestyle can contagious, so before you pick up that cupcake, skip your workout session, continue

that bad habit, or stop caring about your weight, think about the life that could be lead.
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Works Cited

“American Heart Association | To Be a Relentless Force for a World of Longer, Healthier

Lives.” ​About Heart Attacks,​ www.heart.org/.

“Heart Disease Risk Factors.” ​Centers for Disease Control and Prevention​, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/risk_factors.htm.

“Heart Disease Statistics.” ​Global,​ www.cardiosmart.org/Heart-Basics/CVD-Stats.

“How Does Being Overweight Affect My Heart? | Heart Disease.” ​Sharecare,​

www.sharecare.com/health/heart-disease/heart-affected-by-weight.

News Center. “Physical Activity Helps Fight Genetic Risk of Heart Disease.” ​EHR National

Symposium​,

med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/04/physical-activity-helps-fight-genetic-risk-of-hear

t-disease.html.

Theobald, Mikel. “8 Lifestyle Changes to Protect Your Heart.” ​Stroke Center -

EverydayHealth.com,​ Ziff Davis, LLC, 14 May 2012,

www.everydayhealth.com/hs/heart-disease-risk/lifestyle-changes-protect-heart/.