What causes heart disease?

What causes heart disease?

Medical doctors and scientists have identified risk factors for heart disease. Some of these factors (family history, age, gender, race) are beyond our control. Several risk factors can and should be controlled. This includes adopting a healthy lifestyle but may also require medications.

Uncontrollable Risk Factors

  • Family history. If your mother, father, brother or sister developed heart disease before age 55, your risk for heart disease is high. Your risk increases if your grandparents, aunts or uncles suffered a heart attack or underwent heart surgery.
  • Age. As you age, your risk increases because your heart doesn’t work as well as it once did.
  • Gender. For many years, doctors didn’t think women’s risk of heart disease was as great as men’s. We now know that once women reach menopause, their risk of heart disease is virtually equal to men’s risk. Hormone replacement therapy with estrogen may not be protecting the heart from heart attack.
  • Race. Heart disease is more common in African Americans than whites.

There is hope because you can do something about heart disease.

Controllable Risk Factors

Four major controllable risk factors are:

  • Sedentary lifestyle (lack of exercise)
  • High blood cholesterol
  • High blood pressure (hypertension)
  • Cigarette smoking.

By taking steps to reduce any single risk, you may reduce others. For example, if you exercise regularly, you may lose weight, which may in turn lower your cholesterol. If you reduce or eliminate smoking, your whole body benefits.

Lab tests are available to help evaluate newly identified risk factors. C-reactive protein (CRP) and homocysteine, an amino acid, have both been linked to heart disease. Both appear to be treatable.

To learn more:

Heart Attack and Unstable Angina
(WebMD)
This site offers more information about heart diseases. There is also information about prevention and treatment, including lifestyle changes.
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/heart-attack-and-unstable-angina-over
view
Diseases & Conditions – Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction)
(medicinenet.com)
FocusOnHeart.com, a site created by a private healthcare media publishing company, answers many questions you may have about heart attacks. It also gives you questions to ask your doctor and has a section on heart medication.
http://www.medicinenet.com/heart_attack/article.htm

next » What are the signs and symptoms of heart disease?

Written by: Doris Wisher, M.L.S.
Reviewed by: Jeffrey G. Schultze, M.D.
Last Modified: Tuesday October 16, 2007 3:31 PM