What Are Heart Disease Risk Factors?
Heart disease risk factors are conditions or habits
that raise your risk for
coronary
heart disease (CHD; also called coronary artery disease) and
heart
attack. These risk factors also increase the chance that existing heart
disease will worsen.
CHD is a condition in which a fatty material called
plaque (plak) builds up on the inner walls of the coronary arteries. These
arteries carry oxygen-rich blood to your heart muscle.
Plaque narrows the arteries and reduces blood flow
to your heart muscle. This can cause chest pain, especially when you're active.
Eventually, an area of plaque can rupture, causing a blood clot to form on the
plaque's surface.
If the clot becomes large enough, it can mostly or
completely block the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the part of the heart muscle
fed by the artery. This causes a heart attack.
Overview
There are a number of known heart disease risk
factors. You can control some risk factors, and others you can't. Risk factors
you can control include:
The risk factors you can't control are age, gender,
and family history.
Many people have at least one heart disease risk
factor. Your risk for heart disease and heart attack increases with the number
of risk factors you have and their severity. Also, some risk factors, such as
smoking and diabetes, put you at greater risk for heart disease and heart
attack than others.
Many heart disease risk factors start during
childhood. This occurs even more now because many children are overweight and
don't get enough physical activity. Some heart disease risk factors can even
develop within the first 10 years of life.
Researchers continue to study and learn more about
heart disease risk factors.
Outlook
Heart disease is the #1 killer of both women and men
in the United States. Following a healthy lifestyle can help you and your
children prevent or control many heart disease risk factors.
Because many lifestyle habits begin during
childhood, parents and families should encourage their children to make heart
healthy choices. For example, if you maintain a healthy weight, follow a
healthy diet, do physical activity regularly, and don't smoke, you can reduce
your heart disease risk.
On average, people who have a low risk for heart
disease live up to 10 years longer than people at high risk for heart
disease.
If you already have heart disease, lifestyle changes
can help you control your risk factors. This may prevent heart disease from
worsening. Even if you're in your seventies or eighties, a healthy lifestyle
can lower your risk of dying from heart disease by nearly two-thirds.
If lifestyle changes aren't enough, your doctor may
recommend other treatments to help control your risk factors.
Your doctor can help you find out whether you have
heart disease risk factors. He or she also can help you create a plan for
lowering your risk for heart disease, heart attack, and other heart problems.
If you have children, talk to their doctor about their heart health and whether
they have heart disease risk factors.
March 2009
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