College. It can be the best time of your life. It is also the most stressful time of your life. You have three papers due tonight at 11:59 p.m., an exam at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, and a mountain of homework just waiting for you whenever you think you are done with all the important stuff. As you sit there trying to eat your now cold Ramen and reason with yourself on why you cannot drop out, your body is slowly processing your stress and locating that stress into one of the most vital parts of the bodies. Your heart. What are the risk factors for cardiovascular disease? A few of the many include family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, increased cholesterol levels, A study done in February of 2018 by Professor Wendy DeYoung, an instructor of health and exercise science at Colorado State University, found that of 180 students tested between the ages of 18- 25, 84 percent had at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor. What is worse, 62 percent of those students had at least two of the risk factors, and 38 percent of students had three or more of those risks. Each year, roughly 26.7 million people are diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, and every year, more than 600,000 people die of a heart attack. More than one-half of adults ranging from the ages of 18 to 24 show risk factors of having cardiovascular disease, many of which already have it. Now, you may be telling yourself, I am too young to have to worry about heart disease,” and if you are thinking that, then you are most certainly wrong. College students are the most stressed individuals. Their schedules are often so rigorous they pull two nighters just to get a C- on the exam they had been studying for, and a C- is a blessing. Long term stress can increase blood cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. In high moments of stress, the body will release hormones into the body that will disperse bacterial films which cover the heart’s arteries. This leads to ‘Stress Cardiomyopathy,’ or in layman’s terms, a stressed induced heart attack. How do we lower the risks? First, know your risks. Do a self-evaluation on yourself. How many risks do you have of developing the cardiovascular disease? Once you have your list, right it down. Try to find ways to lower your risk factors. If you’re a tobacco user, try to limit your tobacco intake. If you have high blood pressure, figure out what is causing it to spike and find alternatives. The second, and probably most important, thing to do is talk to your doctor. If you are one of the 38 percent with three or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease, early heart monitoring is key. Talking with your doctors early on will help get the ball rolling for future treatment plans and testing.
If you are looking at the list and thinking to yourself, ‘I do not have any of the risk factors, why does this concern me?’, then get that thought out of your head. Just because you don’t have any risk factors now does not mean you will not have them in the future. There are things you can do now to prevent future cardiovascular disease. Getting the proper amount of exercise is the best place to start when trying to have a healthy heart. Exercising strengthens the heart and helps it to pump more blood, allowing to the strength to a point to where it slows enough while still pumping enough blood to keep your cholesterol levels at bay. It also helps keep a steady blood flow throughout the coronary veins, preventing blockages and excessive plaque buildup. Other ways of reducing the chance of future heart problems include, but are not limited to: eat more vitamin filled foods like fruits and vegetables, reduce sodium in your food to keep your cholesterol down, practice breathing techniques to keep your stress levels down and try to limit your tobacco and alcohol intakes. Nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes. That is part of life. Despite that, we can be in this world for both a good time and a long time if we choose to better ourselves and become aware of our bodies. Stress is a poison, and if you don’t take care of a poison immediately, your body will begin to shut down. Taking steps today to manage and control our stress levels will lead to a healthier, heart happy tomorrow.