|
|
|
|
Heart disease prevention would prevent or postpone 33 percent of heart disease deaths
First study to compare heart disease prevention with heart disease treatment
February 18, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - If you don't have heart disease, what you do when you get out of bed every morning is about four times more likely to prevent or postpone your death than what your doctor can do when you are hospitalized for heart disease.
Thomas Kottke, MD, senior research clinician, HealthPartners Research Foundation and medical director, Journey Well, recently completed a study showing that activities including physical activity, no tobacco use, omega-3 fatty acids, controlling hypertension and good nutrition would prevent or postpone 33 percent of all heart disease deaths in individuals who are not known to have heart disease. This study focused on getting to people before they are sick or before their first heart disease event.
"This the first time there has been a head to head comparison of prevention and treatment," said Kottke. "The best predictor of what happens to each individual and the biggest opportunity to put off death comes from what you do when you get out of bed each day."
The comparison shows the main opportunities with heart disease prevention and treatment are with exercise, diet and not smoking. The key is to get to people before they get sick and change their lifestyle. These interventions reduce the risk of death from other chronic diseases as well. "This is going to be a huge challenge for Americans," Kottke said. "This is the first time in the history of the world when people have to run from food and buy exercise."
About HealthPartners
Founded in 1957, the HealthPartners (www.healthpartners.com) family of healthcare companies serves more than one million medical and dental health plan members nationwide. It is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit healthcare organization in the nation, providing care, coverage, research and education to improve the health of members, patients and the community. For the third year in a row, HealthPartners is rated one of the best commercial health plans in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, NCQA's "America's Best Health Plans 2007".
Contact: 952-883-7410
|
|
|
|
