Page 16 - Mended Hearts-HeartGuide
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Lifestyle and Risk Factors
of Coronary Heart Diseases
WAIT, WE ALL NEED Don’t Miss a Beat When It Comes to Good Health
CHOLESTEROL?
The saying goes that we are what we eat, but we also are who we are.
We all need cholesterol—and Controlling our behaviors—diet, exercise, and daily habits—can protect us
we all have it in our bodies. Too from the risk of heart disease. Other risk factors for developing heart issues,
much of this fat-like substance like age and family history, are baked in. Here we dig deeper into the risk and
in our blood, though, is not a preventive factors for common heart diseases and cover cholesterol in depth.
good thing. It can mix with other Use the information to learn what you can do to live well and feel great.
substances and create the stuff
we don’t need—artery-narrowing Risk Factors of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
or -blocking plaque. Medicine
and changes in diet can lower Several factors increase the risk of coronary heart disease—also called
cholesterol and thus our risk of coronary artery disease—and heart attack. Major risk factors are those that
heart disease. significantly increase the risk of heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease.
Some can be treated and controlled. Inflammation is an emerging risk factor.
IS INFLAMMATION
TIED TO HEART DISEASE? Even though our control over risk factors varies, the more risk factors we have,
the more chances we have of developing CHD. And a greater level of each risk
Inflammation is how our body compounds the overall risk. For example, if you have high blood pressure and
reacts to injury and infection, also high cholesterol, your risk of CHD increases.
and researchers are exploring
it as an emerging risk factor for Risk Factors That Can’t Be Changed
heart disease. They are exploring
whether damage to the arteries’ As we know, a few risk factors for CHD are out of our control, including
inner walls sparks inflammation family history. Given that some factors can’t be changed, it’s important to
and fuels the growth of artery- treat and control the ones we can. Here are some of the risk factors that may
clogging plaque. If so, it may predispose us to heart disease:
be possible to reduce the risk
of heart disease by lowering Age – Try as we might, we can’t fight the aging process. As we age, our
inflammation and C-reactive risks of coronary heart disease increase. The risk for men goes up after
proteins in the blood, which age 45. The risk for women increases after age 55.
indicate inflammation.
Male gender – Men have a greater risk of heart attack than women and
tend to have attacks earlier in life.
Family history (heredity) – Children of parents with heart disease are
more likely to develop it themselves. Most people with a strong family
history of heart disease have one or more other risk factors.
Insulin resistance – Insulin is a hormone that helps blood sugar move to
the cells. If your body can’t use its own insulin, you have insulin resistance,
which may lead to diabetes.
12 Mended Hearts HeartGuide
