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May 31, 2018
Most people know their job affects their health. But how? One study of 200,000 people–monitored over 7.5 years–shows the risk of heart disease depends on the type of job. Two key factors determine job strain: how demanding it is and how much control one has in affecting their situation. Low strain jobs aren’t demanding but provide full control to the employee, instead to the person doing the job. Most jobs aren’t that kind of jobs.
Still, the risk of heart disease it not as high as one would expect in a demanding job when there is high control. That would explain why academic jobs are so popular, despite long hours and low pay. The typical corporate job with high demand–and almost no control–is at 1.28-times higher risk for heart disease when compared to a low strain job. Data from The Lancet, 2012.
Given this data, how will you plan your job profile?
Job strain as a risk factor for coronary heart disease: a collaborative meta-analysis of individual participant data.
A Heart Health Test can help you check key heart health indicators. For example, the high-sensitivity CRP test can help assess your risk of cardiovascular disease by testing low level of inflammation, a well known symptom of cardiovascular diseases. CRP values between 3 and 10 mg/L are known to indicate low level of inflammation from atherosclerosis.
May 05, 2018
It’s possible to predict your chances of getting Type 2 diabetes. From the Swedish health databases of about 300,000 people monitored over 25 years, over 8% (or 28,000+) were identified to have Type 2 Diabetes. Here, those diagnosed positive had elevated levels of blood sugar, BMI, Triglycerides, and Uric acid (as seen in the red curves in plot below).
Why it matters? Because it suggests monitoring these health parameters can help predict the risk of diabetes well ahead of diagnosis. In fact, in particular case even up to 25 years ahead of positive diagnosis.
When the ratio of elderly population is rising, such studies highlight the importance of proactive monitoring for public health.
May 02, 2018
Four key predictors of Type 2 Diabetes. Our lifestyle impacts the likelihood of getting diabetes. This Swedish data in discussion can accurately predict the chances of getting Type 2 diabetes. It says the biggest contributors are triglycerides, blood glucose, and BMI (body mass index, or body weight).
These parameters in the chart below plot all four risk factors over time. And an example below it shows how to utilize this finding. The table shows the probability of getting diabetes based on these factors.
Key risk factors of type II diabetes that can predict the risk years in advance.
Data from Prof. Goran Walldius’s group at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, published in Wiley Online Library.
To find your risk of diabetes in next 20 years: (1) Pick your gender, (2) then your fasting triglycerides, and (3) your fasting glucose values; then (4) calculate your BMI, and finally (5) pick your age group.
As an example, a men with <124 mg/dL fasting triglycerides and over 100 mg/dL fasting glucose, obese (BMI: >30) and age of 45 will have a 24% chances of getting Type 2 diabetes in next 20 years.
Table showing how to calculate your risk of getting diabetes in next 20 years (or at any age).
Data from Prof. Goran Walldius’s group at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, published in Wiley Online Library.
Order an at-home heart health test.
Family History and Genes as Risk Factors of Heart Disease – how genes shape our heart health.
Obesity and Risk of Heart Disease - how obesity and high BMI increases risk of heart disease.
Role of Vitamin D in Heart Health - it is one of the most important overlooked markers.
Inflammation in the Body – how & why of inflammation.
The Difference Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes – learn about the key differences.
The Benefits of At-Home Health Test Kits - they are handy tools that put you in control of your own health.