What Causes Heart Diseases? 8 Factors from Loneliness to Child Abuse that Impair Your Cardiac Health

Just because you never smoked and go for regular runs doesn't mean that you have completely wiped away your risks of suffering from a heart disease. Indeed, lack of exercise, smoking, a poor diet and high blood pressure increases your risks of heart disease, but they are not the only factors that develop blockage in your arteries. You must be well aware of the common contributors but there are also the bizarrely sneaky ones that will surprise you.

1 Loneliness

According to a study published in the journal Heart, feeling lonely can increase the risk of heart disease by 30 percent, which is almost as much as smoking. So, go off social media and join a club or enroll yourself in a hobby class and make new friends. According to another study performed by Harvard, having a pet has been shown to dwindle the feeling of loneliness to make you feel better.

2 Emotional Distress

An extremely heart-breaking event like a break-up, loss of a loved one and financial distress can cause heart problems. It is often referred to as broken heart syndrome. It can be tough to deal with emotional distress but healthy practices yoga, meditation and exercise can help you cope well.

3 Childhood Abuse

According to a study published in the journal Circulation, people who experience three or more traumatic events as a child like abuse or bullying can have an increased risk of heart disease as an adult. While there is no solid theory to this connection, talking to a therapist and combatting emotional scars head-on can help. Diabetes also causes heart diseases in Indians at a young age. 

4 Inflammatory Conditions

Sometimes pre-existing inflammatory conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis can increase your chances of suffering from a heart disease. This is because inflammation damages the blood vessels and causes the plaque to build up. Talk to your doctor about your diagnosis, so that he can help you to reduce the inflammation.

5 Depression

Depression doubles your risk of dying from a heart disease. When you are depressed, you have higher cortisol, the stress hormone which is linked to heart disease. So talk to a therapist so he can advise treatment for depression. Exercise can be the best way to cope with depression.

6 ADHD Medications

Medications and drugs for attention-deficit hyperactive disorder are stimulants that can increase your blood pressure and heart rate and put strain in your heart. A study published in the British Medical Journal found that ADHD medications increased the risks of heart disease in children. So talk to your doctor and weigh the potential risks and benefits from these medications.

7 Complicated Pregnancy

When you have baby in your womb, your blood volume doubles and your circulatory system needs to do a lot of extra work. That alone doesn't increase your risk for future heart disease, but if you also get gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or have high blood pressure during your pregnancy then you are at a significantly increased risk for heart disease. Always tell your doctor about any conditions you had during pregnancy. Also, read these 8 surprising facts about heart diseases in women. 

8 Early Puberty

The earlier you hit puberty, the higher is your risk of heart disease. A study published in the journal Heart found that women who got their periods before the age of 12 are about 10 percent more likely to have heart disease than women who got theirs at 13 or older.

So tell your doctor about health history and get regularly screened for diabetes and hypertension to rule out any risk of heart disease.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 19, 2019 11:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).