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Coronary artery disease, more commonly known as a heart attack, is one of the top killers of Americans each year. A heart attack occurs when too much plaque — fatty acid in the bloodstream — clogs up the coronary artery. This stops the heart from pumping properly, which causes the painful and often fatal symptoms associated with a heart attack. There are several risk factors that can increase the chances of a heart attack. Some of them are hereditary, but many are not. Taking steps to know and mitigate all of your risk factors can help improve your heart health and reduce your chances of heart attack overall. In this guide, our experts cover 10 factors that increase the risk of a heart attack. Learn these by heart to assess your susceptibility and keep your heart as healthy as possible.

1. Your Age

Time stops for no one. This rather unfortunate truth only gets worse with the increased risk of heart attack that comes with time. That’s right: the older you are, the more likely you are to have heart issues. As the body ages, our hearts become weaker and plaque in our arteries builds up. More than 80 percent of the people that die from heart attacks are older than 65. You can’t stop time, but you can turn back your body’s clock by living healthy, eating right, and exercising. Even with these healthy habits, it’s important to know the other signs and risks of a heart attack as you approach retirement age, because your demographic is by far the most susceptible.

2. Your Gender

Gender equality is a great thing; but sometimes, nature has other ideas. Right or wrong, males are more likely to have heart attacks than women. Furthermore, the average age for a man to have his first heart attack is a full 4 years earlier than the age for a woman (66 compared to 70). One of the main reasons for this comes from the different ways that male hearts and female hearts deal with stress. When a woman is stressed, her heart rate increases, meaning that her heart pumps blood faster. But when a man undergoes stress, the arteries in his heart constrict, thus raising his blood pressure. If you’re a woman reading this, don’t disregard this article thinking that heart attacks aren’t a risk for you. They still are! Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, far surpassing any of the other causes of death.

3. Family History of Heart Attacks

If you have an immediate family member (such as a parent or sibling) who has developed heart disease prematurely (before the age of 65 in women, before the age of 55 in men), then you stand a far greater risk of getting heart disease at an earlier age than someone who doesn’t have a family history of heart disease. That being said, your immediate family member may very well have developed heart issues from lifestyle choices rather than genetics. In some cases, it can be difficult to pinpoint the culprit of a heart condition. Regular check-ups, leading a healthy lifestyle, and keeping an eye on possible symptoms can make all the difference in determining whether you walk the same path as your family member with heart disease.

4. Your Race

Heart disease risk is also dependent on your race. Caucasians have the lowest risk of heart disease, while African Americans have the highest risk of heart disease. A lot of the reason for this is because African Americans have the highest risk of having high blood pressure, which we will get into further down on the list.

5. Your Smoking Habits

If you haven’t heard by now, smoking is extremely bad for you. You should stop if you are a smoker, and should you never start if you aren’t a smoker. Not only does smoking cause lung cancer, but it also affects your heart and gives you a far greater potential for getting heart disease. In fact, smokers are 2-4 times more likely to contract heart disease than non-smokers. According to Dr. Milani, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association, smoking “is truly one of the worst, if not the worst, risk factor because it impacts so many things.” Smoking raises the risk of oh-so-dangerous blood clots, contributes to additional cholesterol problems, and weakens arteries in the heart. Give up the cigarettes. Your heart will thank you.

6. Your Cholesterol

As we alluded to above, having cholesterol issues — specifically having high cholesterol — can lead to added heart issues. If you, like many adults, don’t really understand cholesterol, here’s a quick and simple explanation. Cholesterol is a type of fat that can be found in your bloodstream. Cholesterol is made in the liver and then cycles out into the rest of your body. In excessively large quantities, cholesterol can cause clogging in blood vessels. Meat and dairy products contain high amounts of cholesterol, so if you have high cholesterol, steer clear of excessively fatty meat and dairy products. More than 1 and 10 Americans have high cholesterol. Even if you appear to be fit and healthy, your cholesterol can be a silent culprit contributing to your risk of heart disease. Get your cholesterol checked annually to stay on track and keep your heart in great condition.

7. Your Blood Pressure

Of all adults living in the United States, around 1 in 3 have high blood pressure: a condition which causes the heart to have to work harder in order to pump blood. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, both increases your risk of heart disease and increases your risk of strokes, kidney failure, and heart failure. High blood pressure can be controlled with medication — especially if medication is taken in tandem with eating less salt, cutting down on alcohol consumption, and becoming more active. Don’t be one of the one-third: lower your blood pressure, lower your chances of having a heart attack.

8. Your Movement

When it comes to heart health, movement is important. Living a sedentary lifestyle has all sorts of health risks attached to it — especially risks associated with your heart. We know that your life is busy and it’s hard to squeeze in time to work out each day, but don’t let exercise be the first thing to be dumped from your routine. Your heart will thank you in the long run! A recent Harvard study showed that performing 30 minutes of vigorous exercise per day reduced the risk of getting heart disease by 20 percent. Not one for vigorous exercise? Light exercise done once per day (like walking 3 miles) resulted in a 10 percent reduction in heart disease risk. Listen to your heart: consider making that stroll through the neighborhood, that round of golf, or that hour of gardening a much more common facet of your schedule.

9. Your Weight

People with excessive amounts of body fat, especially those with fat concentrated around the midsection (closer to the heart) are more likely to develop heart disease. Even if you show no other risk factors besides being overweight, your chances of having a heart attack are significantly higher than those at a healthy body weight. Dr. Milani from the American Heart Association recommends eating a Mediterranean diet of lots of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats (like olive oil). Mediterranean diets have been proven to greatly reduce the recurrence of heart attacks.

10. Type 2 Diabetes

Having Type 2 diabetes increases your risk of heart disease. Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the amount of insulin produced by the body is insufficient for the body’s needs, or resisted by the body’s cells. This condition narrows the arteries, which gives you far less leeway in terms of plaque buildup in your coronary artery: the cause of heart disease. No one is born with Type 2 diabetes — rather, the condition is developed by unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits, as well as obesity. Controlling your blood sugar helps to reduce your risk, as do does exercise and healthy eating.

Learn More and Take Action

As you can see from this list, there are a variety of actionable things you can do to reduce risks of a heart attack for yourself and others. As with many other deadly diseases, leading an active lifestyle and having a healthy diet are highly recommended for anyone trying to reduce the risk of getting a heart attack. Regular doctor’s visits and diligence with recommend care are also great ways to catch and combat many of these things from the list early on. No matter who you are, you can take actions to reduce the risks of a heart attack. Start building good habits today for a healthy tomorrow.

Sources

10 Heart Attack Risk Factors. Health.com. https://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20538581,00.html?

Women or Men—Who Has a higher Risk of Heart Attack?  Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/women-men-higher-risk-heart-attack/

What’s Cholesterol? Kid’s Health. https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/cholesterol.html

How Much Exercise Do You Need to Prevent Heart Disease? Health.com

https://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20188246,00.html

Type 2 Diabetes. Mayo Clinic.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20351193