Long-term research suggests five health factors that can be considered starting in childhood and adolescence to reduce the chance of cardiovascular events in adulthood.
After over fifty years of research, scientists have discovered five childhood variables that can predict a stroke or heart attack in adulthood. This is the world’s largest prospective study on cardiovascular disease, including 38,589 participants from Australia, Finland, and the United States.
According to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a follow-up of participants aged three to 19 found that BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and smoking at a young age – especially their combination – are the five factors that predict future cardiovascular events starting around the age of 40.
Cardiovascular risk was found to affect more than half of the children in the study, and was found to be up to nine times higher for children than the median values for the five factors.
The Murdoch Child Research Institute of Australia was involved in the study, which was done by the International Consortium for Child Cardiovascular Health.
The role of prevention
Professor Terence Dwyer of the Murdoch Institute pointed out that, despite the contribution of medicine and surgery to the treatment of heart disease, prevention strategies will play a key role. As the study showed, they should start from childhood.
“Despite the effect medical and surgical care has had on treating heart disease, the major impact will depend on effective preventive strategies,” said Murdoch Children’s Professor Terence Dwyer, a senior research author, adding “this study confirms that prevention should begin in childhood.”
“While interventions in adulthood like improving diet, quitting smoking, being more active, and taking appropriate medications to reduce risk factors are helpful, it is likely that there is much more that can be done during childhood and adolescence to reduce lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease,” he commented.
Clinicians and public health professionals must plan how to accomplish the goal in the most efficient manner possible, he said, adding that while the recent findings were not unexpected, they have been known for years that children as young as five years old can detect early signs of fat accumulation in the arteries. The new results suggest a stronger focus on initiatives aimed at preventing risk factors in youngsters, according to him.
Source: 10.1056/NEJMoa2109191
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