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Risk Factors for Heart Disease and Heart Attack
Risk Factors You Can’t Change
Some of the factors that increase your chances of getting heart disease are related to your family history and age, and are things that you cannot change.1 These include:
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A family history of heart disease.1 You may be at increased risk of a heart attack if a male relative (i.e., brother, father, grandfather) had a heart attack before age 55 or a female relative (sister, mother, grandmother) had one before age 65. This is because some families’ genetic condition results in high blood pressure or lipid levels. Also, a family’s lifestyle may also contribute to a higher risk. For example, members of the family may be overweight, physically inactive, or they may smoke or eat large amounts of foods high in saturated fat or cholesterol.
Most members of a family with a strong history of heart disease have at least one additional risk factor. Therefore, because family history can’t be controlled, it is very important to try to control other risk factors. |
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Your ethnicity.1 As a group, African Americans have more severe high blood pressure than Caucasians and are at greater risk of heart disease. Heart disease risk is also higher among Mexican Americans, American Indians, native Hawaiians and some Asian Americans. This may be partially due to the higher rates of obesity and diabetes. |
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Your gender.1 Earlier in life, men have a greater risk of heart attack than women. After menopause, women's death rate from heart disease increases, but never reaches the men’s risk level until the 80s.1 |
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Your age.1 While heart attack can strike at any age, the older you become, the more likely you are to develop heart disease.
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To find out more about the blood tests that may help identify if you are at risk for heart disease and heart attack, click here.
A New Test Can Help Diagnose Heart Disease Before Symptoms Occur.
A new blood test (hs-CRP) , for a protein known as C-Reactive Protein, may help doctors forecast the risk of CAD more accurately. For more information, click here.
Risk Factors You Can Change (with the help of your doctor)
Additional Risk Factors That Can Affect The Risk For Heart Disease
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