Middle-aged adults who have three or more "unhealthy traits" are more at risk of having a heart attack, new research has found.Academics have also found that these people are also more likely to die prematurely, reports Wales Online.The study noted that middle-aged adults who felt generally well in life could have some underlying issues, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar levels.The academics warned that there are a growing number of people with these issues now suffering with "metabolic syndrome", and stacking up problems for later life.Study author Dr Lena Lonnberg, who works at Vastmanland County Hospital in Sweden, said: "Many people in their 40s and 50s have a bit of fat around the middle and marginally elevated blood pressure, cholesterol or glucose but feel generally well, are unaware of the risks and do not seek medical advice."This scenario, called metabolic syndrome, is a growing problem in Western populations where people are unknowingly storing up problems for later in life.
This is a huge missed opportunity to intervene before heart attacks and strokes that could have been avoided occur."The study was presented to the ESC Congress in Amsterdam and saw researchers analyse data from more than 34,000 adults in their 40s and 50s from Sweden who attended a heart disease screening programme in the 1990s,During the programme, people were screened on their height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose (sugar) levels and they also completed a survey about their lifestyle habits.Those who took part in the study were deemed to have metabolic syndrome if they had three or more of the following traits:Among the group, 5,000 were deemed to have metabolic syndrome and their
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