Govt, gives advice on heart care

Press, 17 November 1981, Page 22

Govt, gives advice on heart care

By

KEN COATES

in London

With heart disease now Britain’s main killer of middle-aged men, the Health Department in a new study of the problem, says many could save themselves with a sensible diet and lifestyle, adequate relaxation, and exercise.

This is- the first time the

British Government has issued official guidance on heart.-disease prevention. Smoking is cited as the biggest risk factor. . The study says that a man of 50 who smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day is four times more likely to develop heart disease than a nonsmoker of the same age.

The risk to womEn also increases, particularly if they are on the Pill and aged over 35.

The life expectancy of a man of 35 may be reduced by up to 40 per cent if his blood pressure is high. People with blood pressure in the top 20 per cent of the range of blood pressures are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack as those in the bottom 20 per cent. The study says that about 38 per cent of total food energy in Britain in derived from fat and there is “probably an association between a diet rich in fat and deaths from heart attack.”

Stress is seen as a possible cause of heart attacks for some, particularly for the ambitious, the competitive and the impatient. Relax, and take up a sport, the study advises. The study sets out simple rules for a longer and healthier life: do not smoke, pay particular attention to medical advice on blood pressure, maintain an ideal weight, be careful of the amount of fat

eaten, and relax with a enjoyable and mildLy strenuous activity. The Minister of Health (Dr Gerard Vaughan) said that heart disease killed more than 150,000 people in England and Wales last year.

Many deaths could have been avoided, “and if the Americans and people of other countries can reduce their heart disease then so can we.”