Risk Factors for Heart Related Disease

Several medical conditions can increase your risk for heart disease including high blood pressure which is a medical condition that occurs when the pressure of the blood in your arteries and other blood vessels is too high. The high pressure, if not controlled, can affect your heart and other major organs of your body, including your kidneys and brain. Another condition that can increase your risk of heart disease is high cholesterol. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance made by the liver or found in certain foods. If we take in more cholesterol than the body can use, the extra cholesterol can build up in the walls of the arteries, including those of the heart. This leads to narrowing of the arteries and can decrease the blood flow to the heart, brain, kidneys, and other parts of the body. Diabetes Mellitus is another medical condition that may increase your risk of developing a heart related disease. Your body needs glucose for energy. Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas that helps move glucose from the food you eat to your body’s cells. If you have diabetes, your body does not make enough insulin, cannot use its own insulin as well as it should, or both. Diabetes causes sugars to build up in the blood. The risk of death from heart disease for adults with diabetes is two to four times higher than adults who do not have diabetes.

There are several lifestyle risk factors that can increase your risk of heart disease. These are risk factors that can be controlled with a healthy lifestyle. Eating an unhealthy diet is one example such as eating foods high in saturated fat, trans fats, sodium and cholesterol. Physical inactivity, such as not getting the recommended 30 minutes of exercise daily to reduce risk of heart disease. The previous two can lead to obesity which can then lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes mellitus which all increase risk of heart disease. Alcoholism as in consuming too much alcohol can lead to high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which can then increase risk of heart disease. Tobacco use is another risk factor that can be modified by leading a healthy lifestyle. Tobacco use can damage heart muscle and blood vessels leading to heart disease.

There are also risk factors for heart disease that cannot be controlled such as your age, sex, heredity and family history and race and ethnicity. Heart disease risk increases with age. Men and women alike have increased risk for heart disease but symptoms and severity of heart related conditions may present differently and at different ages. Family history of heart disease increases your risk of heart disease along with increasing factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Non-Hispanic blacks, Mexican Americans and American Indians have higher prevalence of risk factors such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which increases risk for heart disease.