Diet and exercise are two huge factors cited by experts in addressing heart disease, both for young people looking decades ahead and for adults looking to rebound from a medical challenge.
Local teacher Tiffany Middlebrooks, who specializes in health science at Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle/High School, said prevention is a major topic in her classes.
"We are trying really hard to focus on diet and understanding the importance of exercise. If you know your family history, and you know that you have family members that have high blood pressure and diabetes, then it's even more important that you're aware of this at a young age," she said.
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year – approximately one in every four deaths.
The American Heart Association's website notes, "Heart and blood vessel disease – also called heart disease – includes numerous problems, many of which are related to a process called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a condition that develops when a substance called plaque builds up in the walls of the arteries. This buildup narrows the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow through. If a blood clot forms, it can stop the blood flow. This can cause a heart attack or stroke."
Middlebrooks, referring to the trouble she encounters, said, "A lot of that is based on your diet, and your exercise is where a lot of heart-disease issues start, and a lot of times ... start very young, with children."
The problem, she said, is that "they develop a poor diet and poor exercise habits, as children, and then they carry that into adulthood."
Cholesterol buildup blocks arteries, "which makes it very difficult for the blood to get to the heart muscle, and that's what damages them, because it doesn't get the oxygen and nutrition it needs, because the arteries are not healthy."
She also mentioned some unwelcome trends.
"We are seeing more and more young people – teenagers – diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension ... It's really starting to become an epidemic, based on obesity, poor diet and poor exercise habits."
