Study: Heart Attack Patients Trending Fatter, Younger

Although doctors know more now than ever about preventing heart attacks, that does not ensure people follow their advice.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, patients who are treated for heart attacks are growing younger and are increasingly obese. Researchers also found smoking rates increased from 28 to 46 percent among heart attack patients, although the national average had declined over the same time period.

These conclusions were not what the researchers had expected to find when they reviewed data for the 3,900 patients. The data had been gathered from 1995 to 2014.

They divided patients into four groups that represented a five-year period. Between the first and last groups, the patients' average age fell from 64 to 60, and the percentage of obese patients rose from 31 to 40 percent.

On average, patients were also sicker. Thirty-one percent had diabetes, compared to 24 percent. However, the researchers did not have socioeconomic data points, and all the data was from one hospital. Therefore it's not possible to know whether these statistics would apply nationwide.

Nonetheless, the data is sobering. The lesson from the research is that healthcare providers must do even more, probably more than ever before, to promote heart attack prevention and overall heart health. This includes advocating for healthier lifestyles, more exercise, and better diets.

Prevention is key and should be at the forefront of primary care.

Heart health shouldn't just depend on a cardiac specialist. Primary care physicians and their patients should all take ownership of their health and the growing problem of obesity and heart attacks.

As a doctor, advocate for good choices that will aid in preventing heart attacks, stroke, or weight gain. As a patient, do not wait for illness or declining health to see you doctor. Establish a healthy relationship with your doctor, and take care of yourself to ensure a long, happy, healthy life. Work to avoid heart disease entirely, not to treat it after diagnosis. 

Will You Gain Weight if You Skip Breakfast?

The food industry has promoted the claim that skipping breakfast leads to weight gain in order to sell more breakfast foods, like cereal. However, rigorous studies have not found evidence supporting this claim.

The idea that a good breakfast is good for your health goes back as far as the 1920s, when there began a nationwide campaign encouraging people to start their days with eggs and bacon. One of the financial backers of this campaign was Beech-Nut Packing Company, a retailer of pork products including bacon.

In the decades after the campaign, dozens of scientific studies reported people who eat breakfast tend to be thinner than those who skip the meal. The studies proved only an association, though, and not a cause-and-effect relationship. Despite this, food companies and health authorities asserted the studies proved that eating breakfast prevents weight gain.

However, studies that assigned people randomly to skip breakfast or eat breakfast have not reached the same conclusion. A recent study, published in February 2016, did not find a difference in health outcomes or weight change between people who did or did not eat breakfast for six weeks.

Eating or not eating breakfast alone won't impact your weight. Observational studies can be misleading. For example, a person who eats breakfast likely also follows other habits considered healthy. They tend to smoke and drink less, eat less sugar, and consume more fiber, as well as exercise regularly than those who skip breakfast.

Observational studies show only that individuals who eat breakfast tend to be leaner, but that is likely due to a multitude of factors, including lifestyle and genetics.