Risk factors for heart disease
Some risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD), such as sex, age, and family history, cannot be changed. Other risk factors for CAD are related to lifestyle and can often be changed to some degree. The more risk factors you have, the greater your risk for developing coronary artery disease.
Risk factors you cannot control include:
- A family history of heart disease. For example, you might have a first-degree male relative (your father or a brother) who has or had CAD before age 55 or a first-degree female relative under age 65 with CAD.
- Age. People over 70 years of age are more likely to have CAD.
- Gender. Men have a greater lifetime risk of developing CAD.
Risk factors you can control or manage include:
- Diet. A high-fat, high-cholesterol diet may raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol.
- Cigarette smoking. Smoking is a major risk factor for CAD and also makes other risk factors worse.
- High blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure damages the delicate inner lining of the blood vessels and increases the heart's workload, which can speed up the development of atherosclerosis and CAD.
- High cholesterol or a family history of high cholesterol.
- Diabetes. Diabetes is a stronger risk factor for CAD in women than it is in men.
- Weight. Being very overweight (obese) increases a person's risk for conditions (such as high blood pressure and diabetes) that are major risk factors for developing CAD. However, there is controversy over whether obesity by itself is a risk factor for CAD.
- Activity level. Lack of regular exercise may lower HDL cholesterol and make it harder for dietary changes to lower LDL.
- Personality factors, high stress, and use of birth control pills.
| Author: | Jan Nissl, RN, BS | Last Updated: March 5, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine Brian Leber, MDCM, FRCPC - Hematology | |
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