People who have Hodgkin Lymphoma have an increased risk of developing a cardiovascular disease when they are older.

The Study of Hodgkin Lymphoma

Researchers compiled data by following two thousand five hundred and twenty four patients who had survived Hodgkin Lymphoma. The patients were followed for a period of twenty years and data was collected showing that patients who received treatment for Hodgkin Lymphoma before the age of thirty five were three to seven times more likely to have cardiovascular complications later in life than people who were treated for Hodgkin Lymphoma after the age of thirty five, or people who never had the condition.

Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivors

According to the American Cancer Society, there are nine thousand reported cases of this disease each year. The majority of people who are diagnosed with this disease are in their twenties. The disease is highly treatable, but there are still more than one thousand deaths from this disease each year in the United States.

More than eighty percent of the people who are treated for this disease will survive it and live an additional ten years or more. Some survivors live forty or more years after their treatment for this condition.

Cardiovascular Complications

The JAMA Internal Medicine published the study that showed that the patients who had survived treatment for Hodgkin Lymphoma before the age of thirty five were more likely to have cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, and heart attacks.

Possible reasons for the increased risks

It is believed that the exposure to the radiation during the treatment for the Hodgkin Lymphoma could be the reason that the survivors have a higher than average chance of developing cardiovascular diseases later in life.

What the study shows

The study shows that the increase for cardiovascular diseases are real in Hodgkin Lymphoma survivors, and that should lead medical professionals to help their patients to understand how to take precautions to lessen their risk of heart diseases.

Today the medical professionals treating Hodgkin Lymphoma patients do not instruct them on the things they can do to prevent coronary artery disease, or plaque build-up in their arteries that cause heart attacks.

With the results of this study, medical professionals can start to see the importance of instructing their patients on how to reduce the risk of heart conditions and the importance of doing so.

Reducing the Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases

The number one way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases is for people to never start to smoke tobacco products, and for people to avoid being in places where tobacco is being used.

Maintaining a proper weight will also help the survivors to decrease their risk of heart disease in the future.

Daily physical activity that raises the heart rate of the individual will decrease the risks of heart disease.

Avoiding sugary drinks, and food with added sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup will decrease the risk of heart attacks.

Regular check-ups, maintain blood pressure levels in a normal range, and blood sugar levels in a normal range.