Sudden cardiac arrest remains a significant problem worldwide among adults, as well as among children, albeit to a lesser extent. Scientists have achieved significant results in saving patients' lives in intensive care, but they still do not fully understand the causes and mechanisms of sudden cardiac arrest. These gaps prevent the development of precise preventive recommendations.
In this area, Chinese scientists studied the impact of 125 non-clinical risk factors related to lifestyle and the environment. The impact of all criteria was assessed on a sample of over 500,000 people. Participants were followed for approximately 14 years. The study results were published on the EurekAlert website.
It turned out that lifestyle modifications across 56 indicators reduced the risk of sudden cardiac arrest by 63%.
Among the most significant were weight, blood pressure, and stress management, as well as regular physical activity and smoking cessation. Conversely, excess weight, smoking, stress, sleep deprivation, and other factors were associated with increased risks.
Interestingly, the study found a positive correlation between the consumption of champagne, white wine, and fruit and a reduced risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The researchers cannot yet explain this finding, but they did comment on another unexpected result. They found an inverse correlation between prolonged computer use in the volunteers, but they hypothesize that this reflects underlying socioeconomic and occupational differences between the groups.
Thus, a sedentary lifestyle remains a significant risk factor, but prolonged computer use in this case may indicate higher levels of wealth and education among participants.
Previously, other work has shown that lifestyle modifications help prevent early-onset dementia, which is thought to be caused by a genetic predisposition.
