29 September: World Heart Day
Because 29 September is World Heart Day, today we focus on cardiovascular disease. Can you, for example, find out for yourself whether you are at increased risk? Can cardiovascular disease actually be prevented? And if so: how?
What is cardiovascular disease?
Cardiovascular disease refers to conditions that prevent blood from being pumped properly around the body. This can happen because the heart no longer works properly, or because blood vessels have narrowed. Examples of cardiovascular disease are cardiac arrhythmias, a heart attack, a stroke and heart failure.
How do you know whether you are at increased risk?
Not everyone is at an equally high risk of cardiovascular disease. There are various risk factors that make cardiovascular disease more likely. The factors can be roughly divided into lifestyle and genetic risk factors. Cardiovascular disease occurs more often, for example, in people who show the following behaviour:
- Smoking
- Unhealthy eating
- Insufficient exercise
Other factors that can increase your risk:
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Overweight
- Rheumatism
- Diabetes
These factors are sometimes connected. For example, unhealthy eating and insufficient exercise can also increase your risk of diabetes. Preventing diabetes can therefore also reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Heredity of cardiovascular disease
In some families, cardiovascular disease occurs earlier and more often than in others. To a certain extent you can therefore say that cardiovascular disease is hereditary. Sometimes abnormalities resulting from this hereditary predisposition already occur at a young age. But there are also genetic factors that increase the risk, directly or indirectly (for example through a predisposition to high blood pressure), only at a later age.
How can you prevent cardiovascular disease?
By paying close attention to your lifestyle and living healthily, cardiovascular disease can be prevented. You can, for example, already reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease considerably by quitting smoking, exercising more and eating more healthily. Knowing whether you are at an increased or reduced risk genetically can help with this. After all, you then know whether it is extra important for you to pay attention to your lifestyle.
What about your hereditary predisposition to cardiovascular disease?
To get an idea of whether you are at an above-average genetic risk of cardiovascular disease, you can look at your family history. Do you have relatives, for example, who were already confronted with cardiovascular disease at a young age? Then it may be wise to be extra alert to a healthy lifestyle.
If relatives have genetic variations that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, this does not necessarily mean that you have those genes yourself. Parents each time pass on only part of their own genes to their children, as a result of which relatives can differ quite a lot from each other genetically. A DNA test can, however, give clear insight into your personal risk of cardiovascular disease.
iGene: insight into your genes and practical lifestyle advice
iGene not only gives insight into your hereditary predisposition to cardiovascular disease (and various other conditions), but also gives practical lifestyle advice with which you can help reduce these risks yourself. In addition, via a messaging service you regularly receive an update or tip, tailored to your personal DNA profile.