According to a new study, adopting healthier habits can significantly reduce a person’s chances of experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. This modifiable condition affects an estimated 2 million people globally each year. The study was led by researchers from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. To understand what puts people at risk of this potentially deadly condition, they tracked more than a half a million middle-aged and older adults for an average of 13.8 years.
The study identified 56 nonmedical risk factors categorized into five groups: lifestyle, local environment, physical measures, psychosocial factors, and socioeconomic status. Key findings point to an exciting new possibility. If we address these modifiable risk factors, we can prevent 40% to 63% of sudden cardiac arrests!
We believe this research is very significant and Dr. Bradley Serwer, an interventional cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolution agrees. He stated, “This study is the first to examine associations between modifiable risk factors and sudden cardiac arrest incidence.” He elaborated on the categorization of risk factors, noting, “They grouped the risk factors into five categories: lifestyle, local environment, physical measures, psychosocial factors, and socioeconomic status.”
Included in these lifestyle-related risk factors were tobacco use, unhealthy diets, and physical inactivity. Researchers indicated that maintaining heart health involves reducing inflammation through everyday food choices. Dr. Srihari Naidu, a professor of medicine at New York Medical College and soon-to-be president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, highlighted the broader implications of these findings. He remarked, “These, in my opinion, are only modifiable on a population level by truly tackling socioeconomic and education disparities that over time allow all people the financial and time flexibility and resolution to take on healthier habits.”
This study highlights the multifactorial nature of sudden cardiac arrest, and in order to prevent it, we need to address the whole spectrum. Dr. Naidu underscored education’s role in all of this. He said, “In the longer term, prioritizing education for all so that everyone has a chance to improve their socioeconomic status over time will aid tremendously in reducing sudden cardiac arrest rate.” He encouraged individuals to “find outlets to improve mood, such as healthy hobbies, regular exercise, and social interaction.”
Despite the encouraging results, Dr. Serwer was quick to point out a few of the study’s limitations. He stated, “While this study is intriguing, it does have several limitations.” He noted that the design was meant to establish associations, not determine cause and effect. Furthermore, it failed to make a distinction among the different etiologies of sudden cardiac arrest. This differentiation is important because it focuses the attention on the underlying mechanisms of the event.
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