Heart disease risk for men who often skip breakfast

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and this popular phrase may actually be true. In fact, so important, it could save your life.

Regularly missing breakfast may put older men at risk of suffering from a fatal heart attack or coronary heart disease by as much as a quarter in comparison to their peers who eat a morning meal, according to the findings from a U.S. study.

The new research was published on Monday in the journal Circulation, and was derived from a study spanning 16 years between 1992 and 2008. Participating in the study were 26,902 male health professionals (i.e. dentists and veterinarians) aged between 45 and 82 years, who completed food frequency questionnaires.  To be involved in the study, the men could not have a history of cancer, coronary heart disease, angina, heart attack or stroke.

Researchers noted over the course of the follow-up period that 1,572 men had experienced a ‘first-time’ cardiac event such as a non-fatal heart attack or died due to coronary heart disease. This included 171 who said they skipped breakfast.

Therefore, over 7% of the men who skipped breakfast had heart attacks, compared to nearly 6% of those who did not skip breakfast.

Assessing all the data, taking into account factors such as smoking, drinking, diet and health problems like high blood pressure and obesity, researchers discovered that the men who admitted they did not eat breakfast were at a 27% higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease than those who said they did eat a morning meal.

Typically those who didn’t bother with a breakfast were younger, single, heavier drinkers, smokers, in full-time employment and who did not do as much exercise. A potential flaw with the study though could simply be that people who make sure they have a regular breakfast also tend to have a healthier lifestyle.

Eric Rimm, one of the study authors at the Harvard School of Public Health, says past research may have found a connection between breakfast and obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and other health problems seen as precursors to heart problems, “But no studies looked at long-term risk of heart attack”, he says.

However, lead author Leah Cahill, tried to explain possible reasons behind the new findings of the study: “Skipping breakfast may lead to one or more risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, which may in turn lead to a heart attack over time.”

The British Heart Foundation’s senior dietician, Victoria Taylor, attempted to alleviate some degree of panic, and said further research needs to be conducted – highlighting the fact no women were actually included in the study.

She commented on the study findings: “In the morning rush it can be all too easy to skip breakfast, but this study suggests this could have a bigger impact on our health than we might think. However, these researchers only looked at men aged over 45, so we would need to see further research to confirm that breakfast has the same impact on the heart health of other groups of people. What we do know is that a healthy and filling breakfast can make that mid-morning biscuit less tempting, as well as giving you another opportunity to widen the variety of foods in your diet. Wholegrain toast or cereals like porridge with low-fat milk are a good way to start the day. Try a sliced banana or dried fruit on top and you’ll be on your way to five-a-day before you’ve even left the house.”

Could male hair loss be connected to heart problems?

Men who are losing their hair may be more liable to suffer with heart problems in comparison to those with a fuller head of hair, new research suggests. It seems it is those men suffering with severe hair loss on the top of their heads (vertex baldness) who could be at a higher risk, and not those with hair loss at the front, i.e. a receding hairline.

Researchers in Japan conducted a thorough analysis of six previous studies from Europe and America that examined a possible connection between male baldness and coronary heart disease (CHD). The studies contained information on 36,990 men whose health was tracked for 11 years, and the researchers determined that five of the studies confirmed such a link.

It was discovered that men who had severe baldness on the top of their head were an incredible 48% more likely to develop CHD. Those who only suffered with moderate and mild vertex baldness were 36% and 18% at risk respectively. However, men suffering with both frontal and vertex hair loss were 69% more likely to develop CHD compared to those who had a full head of hair still intact.

Dr Kazuo Hara from the University of Tokyo said: “Cardiovascular risk factors should be reviewed carefully in men with vertex baldness, especially younger men. They should probably be encouraged to improve their cardiovascular risk profile. But interestingly, frontal baldness was not significantly associated with coronary heart disease.”

The explanation between the connection is still uncertain, but researchers believe increased sensitivity to male hormones, insulin resistance and inflammation in blood vessels could be key factors behind the hair loss and heart disease correlation, although further studies need to be carried out in the future to explore the link.

Another interesting aspect between the hair loss and CHD link is the fact Minoxidil (a popular hair loss treatment, contained in Regaine), was first produced to bring down high blood pressure – a severe risk factor of heart disease. Experts believe that Minoxidil works to dilate small blood vessels in the scalp, thus helping to boost blood flow and the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the hair follicles.

Other authors involved in the study said that in their meta-analysis, “vertex baldness was significantly associated with an increased risk of CHD among younger men as well as among all participants, and the association was dependent on the severity of baldness. Vertex baldness is more closely associated with systemic atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) than with frontal baldness.”

However, Doireann Maddock, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, commented on the study, saying: “Although these findings are interesting, men who’ve lost their hair should not be alarmed by this analysis. It’s more important to pay attention to your waistline than your hairline.”