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With such knowledge it is clear that preventive measures should be
initiated as early in life as possible, for it is doubtful if severely
diseased artery walls can ever be restored to normal. Naturally,
the effectiveness of such steps will depend upon the stage of
development of the disease at which they are introduced.
No man-made mechanism can compare with the heart for
efficiency, nor could any mechanical device survive the careless
treatment so often afforded this vital organ by many people.
Commencing several months before birth and beating on an
average of 75 times a minute, the heart continues its work for
70 or more years. In effect, this amounts to some 3,000 million
beats in a lifetime without a single overhaul, during which period
the heart automatically adapts itself to all the immediate needs of
its owner. Such exigencies range from the comparatively restful
situations of sleeping or reclining in an armchair to the more
exacting demands of mounting the stairs or running for the 8.15
a.m. train.
If we are to reach our allotted "three score years and ten" and not
succumb to heart disease in the sixth or an even earlier decade,
nothing we do should add unnecessarily to the fluctuations of
strain which are taken by the normal heart in its stride.
Obesity or "overweight" giving rise to fatty degeneration is one
of the factors already known to have serious effects on the
efficiency of the heart action.
A diet which substitutes unsaturated (mainly vegetable oils) for
saturated fats (mainly animal) ranks high as a convenient method
of reducing fat levels in the blood. However, while it is a comparatively
simple matter to devise a diet on these lines the new
regimen must be such that it will not demand too much variation
from the normal and so lead to its premature abandonment. This
field offers great scope to the health education services for knowledge
of food values and sensible balanced diets cannot be
imparted at too early an age.
Nevertheless, in many instances where the heart condition is of
some duration, the need remains for a drug therapy which will not
only lower circulating blood fats but will also effect a reduction
of lipids in the tissues and lead to a decrease of arterial deposits.
It is unfortunate but true that the regulation of plasma lipids,
although very important, does not provide the complete answer to
heart and circulatory troubles for other factors, about which we
know relatively little, are involved. These include platelet adhesiveness,
thrombogenic influences, development of fibrotic plaques in
arterial walls, etc. Even the effects of hypertension on arterial
tissues have not been fully interpreted.