Baby boomers have reduced their risk factors for CVD
Both men and women over the age of 50 have reduced their risk factors for heart disease and stroke over a 20-year period, according to a new study published online March 22 in Aging Clinical and Experimental Research.
Demographers from the University of Southern California observed trends in cardiovascular risk for men and women over the age of 40 for a 20-year period. They sought to determine whether there was a difference in change in risk factors for men and women using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
The researchers compared systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and HbA1c to estimate the total cardiovascular risk, the occurrence of individual risk factors and potential factors contributing to changes in risk factors
The study primarily showed differences relating to age and gender “had largely gone away.”
The study data showed men had steady reductions in cardiovascular risk over the 20 years. Women had experienced an increased risk from 1990 to 2000, but it then decreased in the next decade. The age group with the greatest improvement in the decrease of risk factors was between 60 and 69 years old.
“Women and men are almost the same now and older people are almost the same as middle-aged people,” said senior author Eileen Crimmins, PhD, with the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, in a statement.
The researchers credited medications, specifically cholesterol—lowering medications as being an important cause of reduction in CVD risk. The percentage of controlled cholesterol rose from 63 to 95 percent for men, and from 65 to 88 percent in women.
“Increasing medication usage and effectiveness drove improvements in blood pressure and total cholesterol for both sexes,” the authors wrote. “In 2010 there was no difference between men and women in the use of antihypertensives or cholesterol-lowering medications.”
The primary anomaly was that metabolic risk increased over time and “went against the trend in the summary measure.”
The researchers added eating healthier diets and increasing physical activity and exercise could lead to additional improvements in risk factors. Reduction in risk factors could potentially lead decreases in future cardiovascular events among the population.
As a senior news writer for TriMed, Subrata covers cardiology, clinical innovation and healthcare business. She has a master’s degree in communication management and 12 years of experience in journalism and public relations.