Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world and already in middle age, one in two men and one in three women have a cardiovascular event due to atherosclerosis.
The most serious of these are:
- coronary heart disease
- stroke and
- peripheral vascular diseases
and are most often found in the presence of:
- hypertension
- dyslipidemias
- angina, etc.
Risk factors include:
- genes
- smoking
- unhealthy diet
- lack of exercise
- alcohol abuse
- accumulation of fat around the abdomen as well as
- comorbidity with diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Recommended by the World Health Organization:
- weight loss of at least 10% of initial body weight to reduce cardiovascular risk
- start physical activity for at least 20 minutes per day, at a brisk pace
- quit smoking
- alcohol consumption 1 glass of red wine per day for women and 2 for men