Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and a major
cause of disability. The first step in preventing it is understanding your own
risk — which is made of factors you cannot change and factors you can, and
the unchangeable ones are worth knowing precisely because they tell you how
much the changeable ones matter for you.
What you cannot change
| Factor | The detail |
|---|---|
| Age | Risk rises with age: higher in men from 45 and women from 55 |
| Sex | Oestrogen gives women some protection — but diabetes raises heart disease risk more in women than in men |
| Race or ethnicity | African Americans are more likely than white Americans to die of heart disease; Hispanic Americans are less likely to. Asian Americans as a group have lower rates — but South Asian Americans have higher rates |
| Family history | Greater risk if a father or brother was diagnosed before 55, or a mother or sister before 65 |
Two rows there reward a second reading. A group average can hide the opposite
result for a subgroup, which is why "Asian Americans have lower rates" is
misleading advice for a South Asian American. And a woman with diabetes is
carrying more heart risk from it than a man with the same diagnosis.
What you can change
You may have a lot to change. Doing it gradually, one at a time, is fine —
what matters is that it happens.
- Blood pressure. A major risk factor. Get it checked at least once a year
as an adult, and more often if it is high. Lifestyle changes prevent and
control it. - Cholesterol and triglycerides. High cholesterol clogs arteries and
raises the risk of coronary artery disease and heart attack. Triglycerides
are a second blood fat, and high levels may raise coronary artery disease
risk especially in women. Lifestyle changes, and medicines if needed. - Weight. Being overweight or having obesity raises risk mostly because it
is tied to the others — high cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood
pressure and diabetes. Controlling weight lowers all of those. - Diet. Limit saturated fats, high-sodium foods and added sugars; eat
plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains. The DASH eating plan
is one example, and it targets blood pressure and cholesterol — two of the
items above — at once. - Physical activity. Strengthens the heart, improves circulation, helps
hold a healthy weight, and lowers cholesterol and blood pressure.
The pattern is worth naming: the changeable factors are not five separate
problems. They feed each other, so a change to one moves several.
Source: MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from medlineplus.gov
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