Today's teens will die younger of heart disease

Northwestern University ^ | November 16, 2011

[decimon]

High blood sugar, obesity, poor diet, smoking, little exercise make adolescents unhealthiest in US history

CHICAGO --- A new study that takes a complete snapshot of adolescent cardiovascular health in the United States reveals a dismal picture of teens who are likely to die of heart disease at a younger age than adults do today, reports Northwestern Medicine research.

"We are all born with ideal cardiovascular health, but right now we are looking at the loss of that health in youth," said Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., chair and associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "Their future is bleak."

Lloyd-Jones is the senior investigator of the study presented Nov. 16 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando.

The effect of this worsening teen health is already being seen in young adults. For the first time, there is an increase in cardiovascular mortality rates in younger adults ages 35 to 44, particularly in women, Lloyd-Jones said.

The alarming health profiles of 5,547 children and adolescents, ages 12 to 19, reveal many have high blood sugar levels, are obese or overweight, have a lousy diet, don't get enough physical activity and even smoke, the new study reports. These youth are a representative sample of 33.1 million U.S. children and adolescents from the 2003 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

"Cardiovascular disease is a lifelong process," Lloyd-Jones said. "The plaques that kill us in our 40s and 50s start to form in adolescence and young adulthood. These risk factors really matter."

"After four decades of declining deaths from heart disease, we are starting to lose the battle again," Lloyd-Jones added.

[goodnesswins]

Then, I should probably be dead...

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Completely agree. It isn’t diet...it is inactivity and laziness.” <<

.
Nonsense.

Sugar, starch, margarine, and polyunsaturated oils kill, and they do it fast.

The chronic high blood glucose is the immediate killer (and cause of weight gain) but it is caused by consuming unnatural oils, which change the cell membranes, making insulin ineffective at allowing sugars to enter the cell. The high blood glucose acidifies the blood, reducing the oxygen carrying capacity of the red cells. In the resultant anaerobic environment, neuropathy, inflammation, and cancer become prevalent.

[grey_whiskers]

Sounds interesting, first time I've heard of a mechanism other than the steric considerations of cis- vs. trans- isomers and ready oxidation of margarine and similar...got any links?

Cheers!