Major Triggers of Heart Attack: Alcohol, Coffee- and Sitting in Traffic

Heart attacks are up there as one of the most scary and common causes of death in the U.S. right now. There are several reasons for why they are so common, chief among them being the eating and daily habits of Americans. However, over the years studies have shown that aside from our personal factors, environmental factors can have just as big of, if not a larger impact on our risk of having a heart attack.

The major contributors? Stress and air pollution. In this article from Time.com, it is noted that studies occured in both Belgium and Switzerland, which attributed these, along with other factors, for increases in the rate of heart attacks in a population.

And where are stress and air pollution most frequent? In traffic, the highway in particular, where there are not air pollution limits like there are in cities. It is thought that the constant exposure to these elements in the daily person's life could lead to serious risks down the road.

While I do not doubt that both of these influence our health, I find it hard to understand how the researchers got their results. To truly get a number indicating the risk of heart attack based on the lives of the inhabitants of a certain country, you would have to isolate them completely, leaving them with nothing to do to influence the experiment except for when they drive. And such a study could take years if someone were crazy enough to try it.

Plus, these studies occured in Switzerland and Belgium. These aren't exactly the highest population centers of the world. So what does it mean for America? Are these numbers reliable? I would say they aren't. Once again, I completely agree that these factors affect our health and risk of a heart attack. I just think that the study is a bit ridiculous.