Weight and Stress Management Strategies in Reducing Risk for Cardiovascular Diseases among Selected Women

Abstract

Trading healthy traditional diets for modern energy dense and fatty foods is common today and is directly related to the etiology of many lifestyle diseases. The World Health Organisation estimates that 60 per cent of the world's cardiac patients will be Indians by 2010. Prevalence of cardiac diseases is on the rise and is at an alarming rate in the Indian subcontinent. In the past five decades, the rates of coronary heart disease among urban populations have risen from 4 per cent to 11 per cent1. Diet, lifestyle factors and stress are the cardinal factors in the aetio-pathogenesis of coronary heart disease2. While many women apparently sti do not know it, heart disease is the number one killer of women. The control of risk factors can prevent or delay the onset of heart disease even in women with strong family history. In those who already have heart disease, control of risk factor can delay or even halt the progression of the disease and strongly improve outcomes3. Lifestyle approaches are cornerstone in prevention of diseases in the women, emerging data suggest that many have sub clinical cardiovascular disease that might benefit from more intensive prevention therapy.