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A healthy diet, regular exercise and managing stress often are cited as key lifestyle choices to decrease the risk of heart disease. But a new national survey by El Camino Health reveals Americans often don’t consider two more risk factors, social isolation and mental wellness.
The survey found that about two-thirds of the respondents (68%) were not aware that social isolation can increase the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. It also revealed that while a large majority of respondents identified stress, exercise and nutrition as important factors in cardiovascular health, only about half (53%) recognized the role of mental wellness, according to an El Camino Health press release on Feb. 22.
“Basically, what the study showed was that people were aware that nutrition and exercise were beneficial to their cardiovascular wellness. They didn’t realize how much the mental components played a role in it,” said Dr. Frederick St. Goar, medical director at the Norma Melchor Heart and Vascular Institute at El Camino Health.
St. Goar emphasized the importance of social and emotional connectivity in the role of heart health and how it can reduce stress, helping people live longer. “I have a whole barnyard of patients in their late 80s and 90s. And one of the things that’s astounding to me and I see time and time again, is the patients who are living longer, and not only living longer but living well, are the ones who are really engaged,” St. Goar said.
Social isolation, meanwhile, can lead to elevated stress, which is known to affect blood pressure, hormone and cortisol levels that can cause systemic inflammation and accelerate cardiovascular disease, St. Goar said.
For these reasons, it is important for health care practitioners to take a holistic approach to heart health and work collaboratively with patients, St. Goar said. This includes not only addressing nutrition and exercise but also talking with patients about the importance of social interactions and asking questions about whether they are connecting with their families or how many times a week they are going out to lunch with other people.
“It’s those simple little questions to try to nudge people to do more of those kinds of things,” St. Goar said, adding that about 90% of cardiovascular risk factors can be addressed proactively.
Detection interventions are key, such as lipid, glucose and cholesterol screenings, while also keeping tabs on Body Mass Index (BMI), nutritional status and physical activities, along with medications, St. Goar said.
Still, cardiovascular disease is a health equity issue, which can complicate the effectiveness of these interventions. “People who have less access to supportive resources have less time to take care of themselves. They maybe don’t exercise as much, maybe not adhere to a healthy diet so I’m always concerned and worried that it magnifies health inequity, basically social inequity,” St. Goar said.
Addressing these issues and more, El Camino Health plans to host its annual Heart Forum next month to educate community members about advances in heart disease diagnoses, prevention and treatments. The forum will take place Saturday, April 27 at El Camino Health’s Mountain View campus.
“It’s hopefully going to be really important to stimulate a conversation as to what those risk factors are and what can people in the audience do to think about proactively affecting those risk factors in a positive way,” St. Goar said.
