Risk Factors on Cardiovascular Disease

Risk Factors that are Uncontrollable:

• · Increasing age - About four out of five people who die of coronary heart disease are age 65 or older. At older ages, women who have heart attacks are more likely than men are to die from them within a few weeks.
  
  
• · Male sex (gender) - Men have a greater risk of heart attack than women, and they have attacks earlier in life. Even after menopause, when women's death rate from heart disease increases, it's not as great as men's.
  
  
• · Heredity (including race) - Children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves. African Americans have more severe high blood pressure than whites and a higher risk of heart disease. Heart disease risk is also higher among Mexican Americans, American Indians, native Hawaiians and some Asian Americans. This is partly due to higher rates of obesity and diabetes.
  
  Most people with a strong family history of heart disease have one or more other risk factors. Just as you can't control your age, sex and race, you can't control your family history. It's even more important to treat and control any other risk factors you have.

Risk Factors You Can Control:

• · Smoking - Smokers' risk of heart attack is more than twice that of nonsmokers. Cigarette smoking is the biggest risk factor for sudden cardiac death; smokers have two to four times the risk of nonsmokers. Smokers who have a heart attack are more likely to die and die suddenly (within an hour) than are nonsmokers. Cigarette smoking also acts with other risk factors to greatly increase the risk for coronary heart disease. People who smoke cigars or pipes seem to have a higher risk of death from coronary heart disease (and possibly stroke), but their risk isn't as great as cigarette smokers'. Constant exposure to other people's smoke - called environmental tobacco smoke, secondhand smoke or passive smoking - increases the risk of heart disease even for nonsmokers.
  
  
• · High blood cholesterol - The risk of coronary heart disease rises as blood cholesterol levels increase. When other risk factors (such as high blood pressure and tobacco smoke) are present, this risk increases even more. Age, sex, heredity and diet also affect a person's cholesterol level.
  
  
• · High blood pressure - High blood pressure increases the heart's workload, causing the heart to enlarge and weaken over time. It also increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and congestive heart failure. When high blood pressure exists with obesity, smoking, high blood cholesterol levels or diabetes, the risk of heart attack or stroke increases several times.
  
  
• · Physical inactivity - An inactive lifestyle is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Regular, moderate-to-vigorous exercise is important in preventing heart and blood vessel disease. Even moderate-intensity physical activities are beneficial if done regularly and long term. More vigorous activities are associated with more benefits. Exercise can help control blood cholesterol, diabetes and obesity, as well as help lower blood pressure in some people.
  
  
• · Obesity and overweight - People who have excess body fat - especially if a lot of it is in the waist area - are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke even if they have no other risk factors. Excess weight increases the strain on the heart, raises blood pressure and blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol levels. It can also make diabetes more likely to develop. Many obese and overweight people have difficulty losing weight. By losing 10 to 20 pounds, you can help lower your heart disease risk.
  
  
• · Diabetes mellitus - Diabetes seriously increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Even when glucose levels are under control, diabetes greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. About two-thirds of people with diabetes die of some form of heart or blood vessel disease. If you have diabetes, it's critically important to work with your healthcare provider to manage your diabetes and control any other risk factors you can.
  
  
• · Individual response to stress may be a contributing factor. Some scientists have noted a relationship between coronary heart disease risk and stress in a person's life, their health behaviors and socioeconomic status. These factors may affect established risk factors. For example, people under stress may overeat, start smoking or smoke more than they otherwise would.
  
  
• · Sex hormones seem to play a role in heart disease. It's well known that men have more heart attacks than women do before the age of menopause. Several population studies show that the loss of natural estrogen as women age may contribute to a higher risk of heart disease after menopause. If menopause is caused by surgery to remove the uterus and ovaries, the risk of heart attack rises sharply. If menopause occurs naturally, the risk rises more slowly. Hormones also affect blood cholesterol. Female hormones tend to raise HDL ("good") cholesterol and lower total blood cholesterol. Male hormones do the opposite. If you've had a natural or surgical menopause, you may be considering estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) or hormone replacement therapy (HRT). ERT and HRT may increase a woman's risk of some diseases and health conditions. Your healthcare provider can give you more information and help you make the best choice.
  
  
• · The early forms of birth control pills, with higher doses of estrogen and progestin , increased a woman's risk of heart disease and stroke, especially in older women who smoked heavily. Newer, lower-dose oral contraceptives carry a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease, except for women who smoke or have high blood pressure. If a woman taking oral contraceptives has other risk factors (and especially if she smokes), her risk of developing blood clots and having a heart attack goes up. It rises even more after age 35. If you take birth control pills, get yearly medical check-ups of your blood pressure, triglyceride and glucose levels.
  
  
• · Drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure, cause heart failure and lead to stroke. It can contribute to high triglycerides, cancer and other diseases, and produce irregular heartbeats. It contributes to obesity, alcoholism, suicide and accidents. The risk of heart disease in people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol (an average of one drink for women or two drinks for men per day) is lower than in nondrinkers. One drink is defined as 1½ fluid ounces (fl oz) of 80-proof spirits (such as bourbon, Scotch, vodka, gin, etc.), 1 fl oz of 100-proof spirits, 4 fl oz of wine, or 12 fl oz of beer. It's not recommended that nondrinkers start using alcohol or that drinkers increase their intake.

READ MORE - Risk Factors on Cardiovascular Disease

List of Common Cardiovascular Disease

ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Commonly called "hardening of the arteries", it is a progressive disease that causes the arteries to become narrowed and the walls of the arteries to lose elasticity. Here, arteries are narrowed and hardened when cholesterol and fats build up in the walls of the arteries. It can form in any of the arteries in the body. When there is atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the heart muscle does not receive the blood and nutrients it needs, this leads to angina pectoris, and possibly heart attack.

HYPERTENSION

Hypertension the medical name given to high blood pressure. When you have hypertension, the blood vessels become tight and constricted, forcing your heart to pump harder to move blood through your body. These changes cause the blood to press on the vessel walls with greater force. Over time, fatty deposits may build up along the walls and cause hardening of the arteries. This process is called atherosclerosis. The heart must work even harder to pump blood through these hardened arteries. Sometimes blood clots form on these narrow arteries, causing a heart attack or stroke.

· defined in adult as a blood pressure greater than or equal to 140 Hg systolic pressure and greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg diastolic pressure.

CORONARY HEART DISEASE

Coronary heart disease, the most common type of heart disease in most industrialized countries, is responsible for nearly 500,000 deaths in the United States yearly. It is caused by atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty material called plaque on the inside of the coronary arteries. Over the course of many years, this plaque narrows the arteries so that less blood can flow through them and less oxygen reaches the heart muscle.

The most common symptom of coronary heart disease is angina pectoris, a squeezing chest pain that may radiate to the neck, jaw, back, and left arm. Angina pectoris is a signal that blood flow to the heart muscle falls short when extra work is required from the heart muscle. An attack of angina is typically triggered by exercise or other physical exertion, or by strong emotions.

Coronary heart disease can also lead to a heart attack. In a heart attack, part of the heart muscle dies because it is deprived of oxygen. This oxygen deprivation is also responsible for the crushing chest pain characteristic of a heart attack.

Coronary heart disease was once thought to affect primarily men, but this is not the case. The disease affects an equal number of men and women, although women tend to develop the disease later in life than men do.

Coronary heart disease cannot be cured, but it can often be controlled with a combination of lifestyle changes and medications. Patients with coronary heart disease are encouraged to quit smoking, exercise regularly, and eat a low-fat diet.

CONGENITAL DEFECTS

About 8 of every 1,000 babies in the United States are born with a congenital heart defect. One of the most common abnormalities is a septal defect, an opening between the right and left atrium or between the right and left ventricle. In babies with these abnormalities, some of the oxygen-rich blood returning from the lungs is pumped to the lungs again, placing extra strain on the right ventricle and on the blood vessels leading to and from the lung.

An infant may be born with several different heart defects, as in the condition known as Tetralogy of Fallot. In this condition, a combination of four different heart malformations allows mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood pumped by the heart. Infants with tetralogy of Fallot are often known as "blue babies" because of the characteristic bluish tinge of their skin, a condition caused by lack of oxygen.

ARRYTHMIAS

Arrhythmias, or abnormal heart rhythms, arise from problems with the electrical conduction system of the heart. Arrhythmias can occur in either the atria or the ventricles.

Some people have minor arrhythmias that persist for long periods and are not dangerous-in fact, they are simply heartbeats that are normal for that particular person's heart. A temporary arrhythmia can be caused by alcohol, caffeine, or simply not getting a good night's sleep.

Arrhythmias may involve either abnormally slow or abnormally fast rhythms. However, the rhythm they generate is slow, often only about 40 beats per minute. An abnormally slow heartbeat is dangerous if the heart does not pump enough blood to supply the brain and the rest of the body with oxygen. In this case, episodes of dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting may occur. Some types of abnormally fast heart rhythms are usually not dangerous. Others may be controlled with medications.

READ MORE - List of Common Cardiovascular Disease