Heart disease - risk factors

A risk factor is something about you that increases your chance of getting a disease or having a certain health condition. Some risk factors for CHD you cannot change, but some you can. Changing the risk factors that you have control over may help you live a longer, healthier life.

Some of your CHD risk factors that you CANNOT change are:

• Your age. The risk for CHD increases with age.
• Your sex. Men have a higher risk of getting CHD than women who are still menstruating. After menopause, the risk for women gets closer to the risk for men.
• Your genes or race. If your parents had CHD, you are at higher risk. African Americans, Mexican Americans, American Indians, Hawaiians, and some Asian Americans also have a higher risk for heart problems.

Some of the risk factors for CHD that you CAN change are:

• Not smoking. If you do smoke, quit.
• Controlling your cholesterol through diet, exercise, and medicines, if needed.
• Controlling high blood pressure through diet, exercise, and medicines, if needed.
• Controlling diabetes through diet, exercise, and medicines, if needed.
• Exercising at least 30 minutes a day.
• Keeping to a healthy weight by eating healthy foods, eating less, and joining a weight loss program, if you need to lose weight.
• Learning healthy ways to cope with stress through special classes or programs, or things like meditation or yoga.
• Limiting how much alcohol you drink to 1 drink a day for women and 2 a day for men.

Good nutrition is important to your heart health and will help control some of your risk factors.

• Choose a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• Choose lean proteins, such as chicken, fish, beans and legumes.
• Choose low-fat dairy products, such as 1% milk and other low-fat items.
• Avoid sodium (salt) and fats found in fried foods, processed foods, and baked goods.
• Eat fewer animal products that contain cheese, cream, or eggs.
• Read labels, and stay away from "saturated fat" and anything that contains "partially-hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated" fats. These products are usually loaded with unhealthy fats.

Follow these guidelines and the advice of your health care provider to lower your chances of developing CHD.

Heart disease - prevention; CVD - risk factors; Cardiovascular disease - risk factors; Coronary artery disease - risk factors; CAD - risk factors

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Updated by: Michael A. Chen, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.