NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Aging and weight gain, one of the most common factors leading to increased risk of divers exposure, is an underwater heart attack, according to a new study.
Reasons why divers are vulnerable to heart attack
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study urges senior divers who are overweight to eliminate excess weight to avoid an underlying heart attack, a advice from a large study published on July 26 in the European Journal of Preventive Medicine, European Cardiovascular Association (ESC).
"Heart problems are now a major factor in diving deaths," said Dr. Peter Butzakut of the University of Western Australia in Crawley, Australia. "Divers who have learned diving years ago and who are now obese and older, with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, Prone to death ".
Estimates of numbers of divers in America and Europe
It is estimated that about 3.3 million Americans and 2.8 million Europeans are diving this year, while recreational diving is rare (181 worldwide in 2015, including 35 in Europe), the number of heart problems is rising, From 1989 to 2015, the mortality rate in diving (50-59 years) has steadily increased from 15% to 35%, while the mortality rate in the 60-year period has increased from 5% to 20% due to heart attacks, The second main reason behind drowning death.
Skills to be learned before diving
People who want to dive must learn skills and theories and be checked for fitness. After a preliminary examination, however, the diving certificate lasts a lifetime. This is where we see an increase in risk, as the risks are not usually new divers, Because they have been examined recently, but the risks of older divers who did not care about their health. "
What the researchers did
So far, there has been no clear picture of how common cardiovascular risk factors exist among active divers. The previous research was limited to surveys of diving club members or insured divers. This was the first study among divers in the general population. Researchers used data from an active control system (BRFSS), a telephone survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the 2011, 2013 and 2015 surveys, the three surveys represent nearly 736 million people, of whom about 498 million (68%) were active a month Previously, for 113,892 people (0.02%), it was an activity
The analysis compared 113,892 divers in a group of 338,933 active people, matched with age, sex and country of residence, whose main activity was not diving. Data indicate that one-third of divers are 50 years or older, often well-educated, and more than half earn (54%) had smoked cigarettes at a time, compared with non-divers (46%), but divers who quit smoking were (40% vs. 26%), , Divers had frequent weight gain (48% vs 43%), but they had an BMI Less than others (26 vs 27 kg / m2). One-third of divers (33%) were diagnosed with high blood pressure and 30% had high levels of cholesterol.
The researchers' statements
"I have quit smoking because of diving, and my personal advice to all smokers is to give up smoking and practice diving, not only because it is the best but because it is even more fun and even cheaper than smoking," Dr Bozakut advised. Risk factors that can lead to a fatal heart attack during diving. "Never before in history have so many people exposed to these unusual environmental pressures, and for the first time ever, we now have a large number of people who have died Their lives are regularly diving. "
"We were not as young as we used to be, and it was important to keep our diving raft." Jack Cousteau, diving for 90 years, was the world's oldest diver of 94 years and seems to be in good shape. If we want to continue diving in our advanced years. "