Smoking, Alcohol, Physical Activity, and Family History and Probability of Acute Myocardial Infarction and Unstable Angina Pectoris

A recent study in the Netherlands investigated the association between lifestyle factors and the risk of coronary heart diseases in individuals with or without a family history of MI.

Earlier, studies investigated the connection between smoking, alcohol, or physical activity and the risk of getting unstable angina pectoris (UAP).Now the researchers investigated whether the associations of certain lifestyle factors with unstable angina pectoris varied from those with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Furthermore, it was also taken into consideration if these effects differed between individuals with and without a family history of MI.

The studyconsisted of 21,148 participants, aged 20-59 years whowere randomly selected from Maastricht and other nearby surrounding communities in 1987–1997. The participants had to fill up a questionnaire based on medical history, family history of MI and lifestyle factors (like smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity).During a physical examination, their height, weight, blood pressure were measured. Blood samples were taken for determination of total and HDL cholesterol levels. After follow-up of approximately 17 years, 420 AMI, and 274 UAP cases were registered.

Heart Attack - Overview
Heart attack is the death of the heart muscle due to loss of blood supply. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Other names for heart attack include acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion.

It was found that lifestyle factors affected the risk of both the diseases. For both the diseases, smoking increased the risk while alcohol consumption was associated with a protective effect. The difference in the risk factors was only statistically significant for smoking. The number of cigarettes smoked was directly proportional to the risk of both coronary diseases.

In men, an inverse association was found with physical activity during relaxation which seemed to be stronger for the risk of UAP than of AMI. On the other hand in women, physical activity during leisure time was associated with an increased risk of both AMI and UAP. Nonetheless, the highest levels of risk factors were found in individuals with a positive family history and the most unfavorable level of the lifestyle factors.

The effects of the lifestyle factors on the risk of both the coronary diseases were the samefor subjects, with and without a positive family history.

Reference:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2261-11-13.pdf

Source-Medindia

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