Risk factors for heart disease are conditions or behaviors that increase a person's chances of developing the disease. Some risk factors cannot be controlled (such as age or a family history of early heart disease); however, many can be controlled. For example, heart disease risk factors you can control include having high blood pressure, having high cholesterol, smoking, and physical inactivity.
An Overview of Heart Disease Risk Factors
Risk factors are conditions or behaviors that increase your chance of getting a certain disease.
This article discusses
heart disease risk factors (also called
coronary artery disease or just CAD). There are different types of risk factors for other cardiovascular diseases, but these are not discussed here.
Some heart disease risk factors can be treated or controlled and some cannot. The more risk factors you have, the greater your risk of developing coronary heart disease. That's because risk factors tend to "gang up" and worsen each other's effects. Also, the higher your level of each risk factor, the greater your risk of developing coronary heart disease.
The best way to prevent coronary heart disease is to:
- Know your heart disease risk factors
- Tell your doctor if you have any of these risk factors
- Take steps to manage the risk factors you can control.
Specific Risk Factors for Heart Disease
Heart disease risk factors include:
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