A quick way to assess your risk of a heart attack.

1. m e djo urnal.co m http://www.medjo urnal.co m/2012/08/an-easy-way-to -predict-risk-o f-heart.html
An Easy Way to Predict the Risk of a Heart Attack
Could it really be possible to predict the risk of a heart attack by doing a simple test at home that takes less
than a minute to perf orm? No need to get a CT scan, an angiogram, or blood tests, but just a simple test
that just about anyone can do at home? It sounds too good to be true, but researchers f rom the United
Kingdom and China think otherwise, and they have scientif ic proof .
T he researchers started out with a simple hypothesis: the metabolic syndrome is related to an increased risk
of adverse cardiovascular diseases (including risk of a heart attack). If there was a test that could be done
at home that predicted the metabolic syndrome, then by extension this test will also predict an increased risk
of heart disease.
T he metabolic syndrome is a combination of risk f actors that together greatly increase the risk of heart
disease, stroke, and diabetes. It is diagnosed when a person has any three of the f ollowing: an elevated
f asting blood sugar, elevated blood pressure (over 130 mmHg systolic), large waist circumf erence, low HDL
(good) cholesterol levels, and high triglyceride levels. T he primary symptom is increased girth around the
waist, and the treatment consists primarily of weight loss and exercise. If there was a simple home test that
could predict the metabolic syndrome, then this test would also predict an increased risk of a heart attack.
T his research study was very simple and straightf orward: measure the resting heart rate in over 30,000
people and see if it is related to the metabolic syndrome. It was. People with a resting heart rate of around
85 to 100 beats per minute had about twice the risk of metabolic syndrome compared to people with a
resting heart rate of 60 to 70 beats per minute.
Well, there are no surprises here. Regular cardiovascular exercise tends to lower the heart rate, and regular
exercise tends to lower the risk of the metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and a wide range
of other health problems. I like this test-- measuring the resting heart rate-- because it is simple, costs
nothing, and appears to accurately guage the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But there are
other similar tests that will do the same thing. Here's one: do you regularly exercise? If yes, your risk of
disease is greatly reduced. If no, then it is time to change your habits.
Cool technology can create amazing pictures of your heart and the inside of your body, but do we always
need these tests? No, but lots of people still think so. For example, research published in the New England
Journal of Medicine suggests that CT screening f or lung cancer saves lives, but is this really any better than
simply telling people that if you smoke, you need to quit, and here's how? Screening tests don't prevent the
development of disease, they only can identif y it in its early stages. Changing behavior, however, will actually
help prevent ever getting the disease.
T his research linking the resting heart rate to an increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome is a
good start at putting technology in its place. Measure your resting heart rate f or a week straight upon
arising. Is it elevated? If yes, then it is likely you need to eat better and get more exercise. But wait a second,
why don't we all do that anyway?
- Tom Heston, MD
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