BARRIE - When it comes to heart health, 40 is the new 50, says Dr. Brad Dibble, a Royal Victoria Hospital cardiologist.

“I’m seeing more people at younger ages having events,” says the regional Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesperson, who has been practicing for 15 years. “There have been earlier onsets of heart attacks and diabetes just in that time.”

He suggests the general population would be surprised at the number of heart attacks that occur in those under 45. Recent studies have indicated today’s younger generation could be the first to have shorter expected life-spans than their parents.

In advance of February’s National Heart Month, the foundation has released its 2010 annual report that warns a “perfect storm” is on the horizon.

Risk factors and demographic changes are converging to create an unprecedented burden on Canada’s fragmented system of cardiovascular care, and no Canadian – young or old will be left unaffected.

“It’s a global problem,” says Dibble, who traces the shift to changes in lifestyle brought on by the industrial age. “We don’t have to work as hard as we did 100 years ago to survive.

“You can order your groceries online – you don’t even have to go get them.”

The signs of this impending crisis are clearly evident, says the report. Between 1994 and 2005, rates of high blood pressure among all Canadians skyrocketed by 77 per cent, diabetes by 45 per cent and obesity by 18 per cent. All are major risk factors for heart disease.

For those between 35 to 49 years of age, the prevalence of high-blood pressure increased 127 per cent, diabetes by 64 per cent and obesity by 20 per cent.

“Many of these things are not symptomatic,” says Dibble, who encourages everyone to visit their doctor regularly to be checked.

The new at-risk populations include young Canadian adults in their 20s and 30s, women between the ages of 35 and 45, Boomers (50 to 64), and some of Canada’s growing ethno-cultural communities.

Immigrants from south-east Asia, Africa and the Caribbean have a natural disposition to heart problems, says Dibble. Their problems typically show up about 10 years earlier than the rest of the population.

“If they adopt a Canadian lifestyle, they are aggravating their risk factors even further,” he adds.

Native communities, which are sometimes more remote and have more of a challenge accessing medical care, are currently experiencing a “full-blown cardiovascular crisis,” says the report.
“It does tend to get worse the further north you go,” he confirms.

 “Up to this point, we’ve had a patchwork quilt of prevention and treatment initiatives aimed at addressing some, but not all, of the risk factors affecting Canadians,” says Stephen Samis, the foundation’s health policy director. “The magnitude of this problem has become so large, the only way forward is to implement a comprehensive, Canadian heart-health strategy that focuses on at-risk and disadvantaged populations, addresses the disparities between provinces and territories and integrates Canada’s fragmented system of cardiac care services.”

The comprehensive strategy was commissioned by the federal government in 2006 under then-health minister Tony Clement. It was completed two years later at a cost of several million dollars. Its implementation, which eight out of 10 surveyed Canadians rate a high-priority, has yet to happen.

“Without funding, I don’t think we realistically have the chance to make the changes we need,” says Dibble. Education and new legislations are required to guide Canadians to new lifestyles.

They can start with the small things, says Dibble, who watches cars circle parking lots for 10 minutes looking for vacant spots close to store doors.

“If they parked at the far end of the parking lot and walked, they’d already be in the mall,” he says, encouraging people further to take the stairs and build on each change made.

The new junk-food ban in schools is also a positive step, he adds.

“We have to target it from every angle.”