Men's Health

Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary Heart Disease | Risk Factors | Warning Signs

Risk Factors for Heart Disease

Men, women, children ... young, old ... regardless of race ... regardless of color ... we are all at risk for heart attack and should make adjustments to our lifestyle accordingly. A heart attack may happen to anyone, but in general, according to the American Heart Association, there are certain people more at risk for a heart attack. It's only when we take the time to learn which of the risk factors apply to us, specifically, can we then take steps to eliminate or reduce them.

Two types of risk factors for heart disease:

Inherited (or genetic):

these are risk factors you are born with

cannot be changed, but can be improved with medical management and lifestyle changes

Acquired:

caused by activities that we choose to include in our lives

they can be managed through lifestyle changes and clinical care

What are inherited (genetic) factors?

family history of heart disease (especially with onset before age 55)
diabetes mellitus
inherited hypertension -- high blood pressure
inherited low levels of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) or high levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) blood cholesterol
aging
women, after the onset of menopause -- generally, men are at risk at an earlier age than women, but after the onset of menopause, women are equally at risk

What are acquired risk factors?

cigarette smoking
being overweight by 30 percent
acquired hypertension -- high blood pressure
acquired low levels of HDL (high density lipoprotein) or high levels of LDL (low density lipoprotein) blood cholesterol
stressful lifestyle
sedentary lifestyle

Managing heart attack risk factors:

Managing your risks for a heart attack begins with:

examining which of the risk factors apply to you, and then taking steps to eliminate or reduce them.
seeing your physician soon to determine if you have risk factors that are genetic or inherited and cannot be changed, but can be managed medically and through lifestyle changes.
becoming aware of conditions like hypertension or abnormal cholesterol levels, which may be "silent killers".
if you have risk factors that are acquired -- not inherited, modifying them through lifestyle changes. See your physician as the first step in starting right away to make these changes.

This page was last updated on: February 1, 2008.

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