Heart Disease
Although these factors are not actual causes of heart disease, they do increase a person's chances of developing it. Risk factors for heart disease include:
- Age (being a man 45 years or older, or a woman 55 or older)
- Being male
- Having high cholesterol levels, also known as hypercholesterolemia (see Cholesterol and Heart Disease)
- Having high blood pressure, also known as hypertension (see Effects of High Blood Pressure)
- Having diabetes (see Diabetes and Heart Disease)
- Being overweight or obese (see Obesity and Heart Disease; click BMI Calculator to find your ideal weight)
- Not exercising (see Heart Disease and Exercise)
- Cigarette smoking (see Smoking and Heart Disease)
- Having close relatives with heart disease at younger ages (diagnosed before age 55 in a father or brother; diagnosed before age 65 in a mother or sister).
(Click Heart Disease Risk to calculate your risk over the next 10 years.)