Coronary heart disease is the No.1 killer in America since 1999 and the second leading cause of death in Hong Kong, accounting for more than 16 per cent of all deaths.
It's a disease that causes your arteries to narrow through a process called atherosclerosis. When this happens, the blood and oxygen supply to the heart is restricted, putting increased demands on it.
Although scientists haven't fully unravelled the exact causes of heart disease, they know that certain factors increase the likelihood of developing it. Some of these risk factors - such as age, gender, genetic makeup and ethnic group - are out of anyone's control. But others - like diet, the decision to smoke or not, and the amount of exercise you do - are all completely within your control.
Previously, research focused mainly on diet and caloric intake as major factors in causing death by heart disease. High cholesterol levels can result in layers of plaque being deposited on the inner walls of the coronary arteries, reducing the blood supply to the cardiac muscle. So, people have wisely been advised to eat only fresh wholesome food and to avoid certain fats, such as animal fat.
But a recent study by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York has found that losing excess weight - or not becoming overweight to begin with - may be a better way to prevent coronary heart disease than diet alone. Dr Jing Fang recently reported in The American Journal Of Preventative Medicine that 'expending energy through physical activity may be the key to cutting the risks of heart disease and living a longer, more healthful life'.
Researchers examined data from more than 9,000 participants in a national study between 1971 and 1992. They grouped the participants according to caloric intake, recreational exercise and body mass index (BMI). Overweight and obese subjects who consumed fewer calories and exercised less were also more likely to have higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels than those who ate and exercised more.
