HOW TO EXTEND LIFE EXPECTANCY by Wahiba Al Saadi. How long do you expect to live? What factors influence your total life expectancy?

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1 Al Saadi, W. (2010). How to extend life expectancy. UCQ Nursing Journal of Academic Writing, Winter 2010, HOW TO EXTEND LIFE EXPECTANCY by Wahiba Al Saadi How long do you expect to live? What factors influence your total life expectancy? Do you think you will live a healthy long life? Many of us want to live longer, extend our years, and have fulfilling lives as much as we can. Even though most people do not know how to treat their bodies in order to do so, it is not as difficult as some might think; uncomplicated steps and simple changes can increase your life expectancy and improve your health, such as, not smoking, maintaining normal weight, and doing physical activity. Specifically, one of the most significant examples of the diseases that threaten human lives is cardiovascular disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, cardiovascular disease is defined as conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke. Other heart conditions, such as infections and conditions that affect your heart's muscle, valves or beating rhythm also are considered forms of heart disease (2009). Further, Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of mortality and morbidity in the world (Nusselder, Franco, Peeters and Mackenbach, 2009, p. 1). According to this view, obviously we can understand that being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease can reduce the years of our life. My main concern, then, is whether we can reduce these consequences through three heart healthy behaviors: physical activity, maintaining a normal weight, and not smoking. My own view is that if you want to extend your life expectancy and be free of CVD, you must pursue these three significant habits. You must maintain your body weight 77

2 within the normal range, continue regular physical exercise, and never smoke (or stop smoking if you are a smoker). This paper will explore the choices for you to extend your life expectancy and live free from cardiovascular disease through these simple methods. Of course, no one would reject a longer, healthier life at minimal or even free cost; hence, rather than seeking for an optimal expensive health care regimen, you just need to be aware of what the dangerous diseases that could affect your life expectancy are, as well as what the significant methods to prevent these diseases are. As mentioned above, one of the most common diseases that affect life expectancy is cardiovascular disease (CVD). In fact, cardiovascular disease is considered the biggest killer disease worldwide, according to the Mayo Clinic: Heart disease is the No. 1 worldwide killer of men and women, including in the United States. For example, heart disease is responsible for 40 percent of all the deaths in the United States, more than all forms of cancer combined. Many forms of heart disease can be prevented or treated with healthy lifestyle choices and diet and exercise (2009). The Mayo Clinic insists that cardiovascular disease, which is just one type of heart disease, is the most common fatal disease in the world among both men and women. This risk may be modified by making simple changes in our lives. First, if we want to have longer, healthier lives, we must start rethinking our lifestyle. The three most significant ways to extend life expectancy and have a longer life free of CVD are not smoking, maintaining a normal weight, and doing regular physical activity. The first method is never smoking. Smoking is a very dangerous habit. The lighting, inhaling and exhaling of a cigarette is so easy for smokers, but the effect of smoking on their health is very serious. When people start to smoke a cigarette, they 78

3 may think that it will help them to release tension or stress, and some think that they look cool, but they may not anticipate that it is the first step to a life of addiction. Moreover, the human body does not need smoke to survive as it needs air, food, water, sleep and exercise. This means that are no physical reasons to start smoking. In Christopher Bullen s study, Impact of Tobacco Smoking and Smoking Cessation on Cardiovascular Risk and Disease he states that cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death due smoking. Bullen writes Tobacco smoking is arguably the most important preventable cause of cardiovascular disease. In the year 2000, 1.62 million deaths more than one in every ten cardiovascular deaths in the world were attributable to tobacco smoking, with 1.17 million of these among men and 450,000 among women (2008, p. 1). Basically, Bullen is saying that even though smoking causes cardiovascular disease and high rates of mortality among men and women, the number of tobacco users remains high. Subsequently, people must think twice when they consider starting to smoke. In Bullen s view Even very low doses of exposure increase the risk of acute myocardial infarction (2008, p. 1). In other words, Bullen believes that smoking is a very problematic habit. It can become a lifelong habit if it isn t solved immediately, and even a few cigarettes can cause serious damage to human health. So, if you never smoke, you may save your body from a killer disease, and increase your chance to live longer and have a healthier life expectancy. The second way to extend life expectancy and have a longer life free of CVD is to maintain a normal weight. Obesity has become highly epidemic across the world. Also, it is associated with developing cardiovascular disease and many other serious diseases. Paul Poirier, Thomas D. Giles, George A. Bray, Yuling Hong, Judith S. Stern, F. Xavier Pi 79

4 Sunyer, and Robert H. Eckel, in their article Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease: Pathophysiology, Evaluation, and Effect of Weight Loss declare Obesity is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality as well as reduced life expectancy (2006, p. 1). Their point is that obesity is one of the major causes of death and also that it decreases the years of human life. On the other hand, some researchers actually argue against this idea. For example, Biykem Bozkurt and Anita Deswal, in their study Obesity as a Prognostic Factor in Chronic Symptomatic Heart Failure state In patients with chronic symptomatic HF, obesity or overweight status was associated with a lower risk for mortality but a similar risk for hospitalization compared with normal weight status (2005, p. 1). The essence of their argument is that obese heart failure patients have a better chance to survive chronic symptoms than patients with normal weight. Furthermore, other studies share this surprising finding, as Khawaja Afzal Ammar, Margaret M. Redfield, Douglas W. Mahoney, Matthew Johnson, Steven J. Jacobsen and Richard J. Rodeheffer present in their study, Central Obesity: Association With Left Ventricular Dysfunction and Mortality in the Community. This study finds that the particular distribution of fat in the body has a significant relationship to increasing the mortality for cardiovascular and left ventricular patients. They complicate matters further when they write Central obesity commonly measured by waist hip ratio (WHR), is increasingly recognized as a more powerful predictor of obesity related cardiovascular risk factors and death than is overall obesity (2008, p. 1). In making this comment, the researchers argue that certain types of obesity have greater effects on cardiovascular patients mortality than does whole body obesity. In fact, these three studies have strong evidence to support their points of view. Still, I agree that obesity 80

5 has a significant correlation with developing many dangerous diseases especially CVD, and that it increases the mortality rate worldwide. Thus, maintaining normal weight is the ideal solution to extend the life expectancy, and enjoy with healthy life without potential suffering from particular disease. The third technique to extend life expectancy and have a longer life free of CVD is physical activity. Physical activity improves health, fitness, well being and lifestyle, as Eleana Piperidou and Julie Bliss find in their article, An Exploration of Exercise Training Effects in Coronary Heart Disease Physical Exercise. They observe that Evidence based on primary and secondary studies demonstrated that physical activity can promote recovery, reduce the risk of death and contribute to the general well being and quality of life in people suffering from CHD (2008, p. 271). Basically, they are saying that maintaining physical activity for CHD patients can improve their life, mange their symptoms, and decrease the mortality rate. However, despite the importance of physical activity in improving the quality of life for patients with heart problems, still people lack exercise and it remains serious health problem. Therefore, increasing the awareness of being physically active is very important especially among those patients of heart disease. There are various ways to enhance physical activity, such as, promoting policies to encourage exercise, changing our environments, and opening parks and suitable places to practice such activities. Also, since the old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is really true, health care professionals and policemakers ought to consider that health prevention is the most essential way to decrease the percentage of health problems and early deaths among the population. I believe that being active extends the hours that you have to live. 81

6 In addition, many other studies support my argument that to extend your life expectancy and live free from cardiovascular disease you must follow the three easy methods: doing physical activity, maintaining normal weight, and not smoking. For example, Wilma J Nusselder, Oscar H Franco, Anna Peeters, and Johan P Mackenbach, declare in their study Living Healthier for Longer: Comparative Effects of Three Heart Healthy Behaviors on Life Expectancy with and without Cardiovascular Disease that chieving high levels of physical activity normal weight and never smoking are effective ways to prevent cardiovascular disease and to extend total life expectancy and the number of years lived free of CVD. Increasing the prevalence of normal weight could further reduce the time spent with CVD in the population (2009, p. 1). Their point is that normal weight, high level of physical activity, and not smoking are the three essential ways to decrease the risk of being diagnosed by CVD, extend life expectancy, and to live longer for those patients who are already affected by cardiovascular disease. I strongly agree with their finding because these three components are essential not only for cardiovascular patients but also for all people whether they are healthy or sick. In conclusion, cardiovascular disease is considered the number one cause of death worldwide among both men and women. Therefore, to reduce the mortality rate from this disease and improve the quality of our lives, we must encourage and increase awareness of the three heart healthy behaviors. Here are some suggestions to follow the three heart healthy habits. First of all, remember that smoking is a slow form of suicide, so have a strong will and don t be tempted by a cigarette. If you are a smoker, don t waste your time: quit smoking as soon as possible. Secondly, maintaining a normal weight is not difficult. Once you understand that you need to lose weight, you will reach 82

7 your goal it isn t quite this easy, though, is it? Consult your doctor, dietitian, family, and friends to get effective support from them. Set a diet plan and follow it. Then, start regular physical activity. Exercise doesn t need a specific place or proper time; try to wear exercise shoes everywhere and all the time. Enjoy your exercise time by involving your family, or best friends. You can make your physical activity a regular healthy habit that lasts for a long lifetime. Finally, do not forget that prevention is the cheapest cure. So, by basic steps and simple changes in your life, such as not smoking, maintaining normal weight, and doing physical activity, you can increase your life expectancy and improve your health. References Ammar, K. A., Redfield, M. M., Mahoney, D. W., Johnson, M., Jacobsen, S. J. & Rodeheffer, R. J. (2008). Central obesity: association with left ventricular dysfunction and mortality in the community. American Heart Journal. 156 (5): Bullen, C. (2008). Impact of tobacco smoking and smoking cessation on cardiovascular risk and disease. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 6 (6): Mayo Clinic. (2009). Heart diseas. Retrieved from Nusselder, W. J., Franco, O. H., Peeters, A., Mackenbach, J. P. (2009). Living healthier for longer: comparative effects of three heart healthy behaviors on life expectancy with and without cardiovascular disease. BMC Public Health. 9: 487. Piperidou, E., & Bliss, J. (2008). An exploration of exercise training effects in coronary heart disease. British Journal of Community Nursing, 13 (6), Poirier, P., Giles,T.D., Bray, G. A., Hong, Y., Stevn, J. S., & Pi Sunyer, F. X. (2006). Obesity and cardiovascular disease: pathophysiology, evaluation, and effect of weight loss. American Heart Association. 113: