Wang Xin, deputy chief physician of Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine

People have ages, and so do their blood vessels. Blood vessel age will increase with the growth of biological age, but many times the two are not completely consistent, for example, some people's actual age is 20 or 30 years old, but blood vessel age is 50 or 60 years old. What accelerates premature vascular failure in young people? Recently, a joint study conducted by Northwestern University, the University of Alabama, the University of Minnesota and other universities has provided the answer.

Starting in 1985, the researchers selected 5,115 healthy young adults aged 18 to 30 from four communities in the United States for 35 years of follow-up. The results showed that the cardiovascular health of the subjects began to deteriorate gradually from youth, and obesity was an important factor affecting the structure and function of their hearts. Between 25 and 45 years of age, lifestyle is an important factor in determining future cardiovascular disease risk, with nearly 15% of people developing early-onset diabetes, hypertension and subclinical cardiovascular disease.

In healthy people, the blood vessel walls are smooth, the lumen is unobstructed and elastic. Under normal circumstances, blood vessels begin to age from about 20 years old, and when there is high blood pressure, high blood lipids and high blood sugar, the aging rate will be accelerated. If added to the fuel of obesity, the aging process of blood vessels will press the "fast forward button." Cholesterol, triglycerides and other components will slowly accumulate on the inner wall of the blood vessel, the caliber of the blood vessel wall will become narrower and narrower, and the flexibility will be reduced, and the blood vessels will begin to harden, causing arteriosclerosis and circulation disorders.

Many people think that "fat" is a disease of The Times, compared with the degree of obesity in Europe and the United States, the fat of the Chinese people is not worth mentioning. But the reality is that in recent years, a large number of data confirmed that not only the number of Chinese obesity is rising fast, from the perspective of race, genes, etc., it is "fat can not afford", especially the younger generation, if early fat up, will cause irreversible impact on the future health. According to the report on Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2020), more than half of China's adult residents are overweight or obese, and the overweight and obesity rates of children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 and under 6 years old reach 19% and 10.4%, respectively. Overweight and obesity are important risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which can damage vascular endothelial function, cause abnormal vasoconstriction and dilation function, and disorder of coagulation and fibrinolytic system balance, leading to atherosclerosis and some cardiovascular diseases. Obesity is also associated with insulin resistance, peroxidation stress, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and sympathetic nervous system activation, all of which may accelerate vascular aging. A Loughborough University study found that the duration of obesity is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic disease, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, "good" cholesterol, and glycosylated hemoglobin. The longer a person was obese, the worse the CVD risk factor numbers were. People who were obese for less than five years had a 5% increase in their HBA1c levels compared with people who had not been obese for a long time. Obesity for 20 to 30 years, the level of glycosylated hemoglobin will increase by 20%, which will seriously affect the function of blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents.

The new study suggests that early life risk factors are important in determining cardiovascular risk. People who maintained or actively improved a healthy lifestyle when they were young had better health in middle age, and the earlier they improved their lifestyle, the better. However, young people often do not pay enough attention to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, lack corresponding health education, and have unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as high-fat, high-calorie, high-protein, low-dietary fiber diet, watching electronic products for a long time, sedentary and sedentary, etc., which may lead to premature coronary artery aging. Therefore, young people must pay attention to, the diet follows the principle of "full breakfast, good lunch, less dinner", less take-out, cooking to steam, white burning, stew, less oil salt and sugar. Replace the snacks on hand with nuts, yogurt, etc., and change yourself to a smaller bowl to control the amount of food. Office sedentary, do more lean waist and stomach movements, such as plank support; Work interval can practice squat, side leg lift. Put a scale in your bedroom and weigh yourself every morning and night. Make time to do more outdoor exercise, recommended running and brisk walking, 3 to 5 times a week, 30 minutes each time.▲