Ischemic Heart Disease Coronary Heart Disease, Ischemic Heart Disease, and the Roles That Life Insurance and Income Protection Plays in the Management of These Diseases.
Cardio vascular diseases are significant health concerns in an ageing population and can have important ramifications for families.
Life insurance and income protection play an important part in protecting the lifestyles of older Australians.
Thirty three percent of Australian women over fifty five years of age are at a high to extreme risk, of experiencing coronary heart disease.
Men are slightly more at risk.
Ischemic Heart Disease and Coronary Heart Disease Ischemic heart disease, more commonly known as coronary heart disease, normally manifests itself in people of middle age, living sedentary lifestyles.
This disease is a hardening of the arteries caused by the prolonged consumption of fatty foods over many years.
As fats and other substances gradually deposit on the artery walls near the heart, they constrict the flow of blood to and from the heart.
Potential sufferers will over time, begin experiencing difficulty undertaking moderate to heavy exercise, they may experience shortness of breath, as well as more immediate symptoms such as pain in the arms, neck, back and chest areas.
This affliction has become one of the major causes of death in middle age.
Sedentary lifestyles, perhaps coupled with stressful occupations and an abundance of foods containing saturated fat and trans fat, have conspired to significantly predispose many middle aged and older people to coronary heart disease.
Many of the dangerous fats people should avoid are found in processed and take away food, which is forming an increasing proportion of the diets of people, in affluent countries.
Life Insurance Life insurance is one of the products that people seldom pay much attention to, whilst they are in good health.
As coronary heart disease is an affliction that normally has an onset in middle age, few people associate the necessity to have life insurance with these ranges of ailments.
Living with this condition, can have a major impact upon the ability of a person to work, as well as their lifestyle generally.
Once a person has a heart condition, they will have to make drastic changes to their way of life, if they have been fortunate enough to survive the initial attack.
For example, people who prior to the heart attack worked in stressful occupations, or those requiring some degree of strenuous exercise, can expect to be affected almost immediately.
Stress and strenuous exercise are to be avoided, once a heart condition is diagnosed.
As the onset of coronary heart disease is usually sudden and has the potential to be fatal, if treatment is not available immediately, the families involved will be faced with a sudden and unplanned upheaval to their lives.
Life insurance has the potential to mitigate the effects of such sudden traumatic incidents.
Life insurance taken up early in life will be cost effective and affordable; delaying until middle age will be less cost effective as actuaries factor the increased probability of coronary heart disease into the premiums payable.
Income Protection Income protection is a useful product for people to take up, whilst still in the workforce.
Living with coronary heart disease will force people to make drastic changes to their lifestyles, and potentially their occupations.
Heart attack victims will have to avoid occupations that are stressful or involve strenuous physical activity.
Occupations like these have the potential to trigger another attack.
Income protection softens the blow to the family budget when the individual is unable to re-enter the workforce for a period of time, due to the extended convalescence required when recovering from a heart attack.
During convalescence, other unpaid duties the person would normally have performed may need to be outsourced as well.
Income protection insurance reduces the financial impact of coronary heart disease on individuals and their families.
Conclusion Although we would all like to avoid the possibility of succumbing to this ailment, and many of us live with the conviction that heart disease 'only happens to others', the reality of our modern lives is that there are many pressures, both subtle and obvious that pre-disposes people, to this disease.
A long term healthy diet which minimises exposure to saturated fats and the other foodstuffs that predispose people to clogging of the arteries is an obvious first line of defence.
Replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats, such as soybean, corn and safflower oils, as well as salmon, mackerel, trout and herring, are reputed to reduce the risk of heart attack.
Walnuts and sunflower seeds also fall into this category.
Monounsaturated fats are a healthier alternative to saturated fat.
This type of fat can be found in olive oil, macadamia nuts, almonds, peanuts, and avocados.
Consuming alcohol in moderation and avoiding tobacco have also been found to be important factors in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.
Regular blood pressure checks and using appropriate blood pressure medication to maintain your blood pressure in an appropriate range for age, is vital.
Other risk factors that can predispose an individual to an increased risk of coronary heart disease are high levels of cholesterol, obesity, post menopausal women and family history.
Lifestyle initiatives supported by an appropriate life insurance policy which protects the families of heart attack victims, and an income protection plan to ease the reduction in income, due to the prolonged convalescence a person will face after a heart attack, provides the best way of mitigating the trauma associated with coronary heart disease.