Heart disease - risk factors
Heart disease - prevention; CVD - risk factors; Cardiovascular disease - risk factors; Coronary artery disease - risk factors; CAD - risk factors
What is a Risk Factor?
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.
Risk Factors you Cannot Change
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.
Risk Factors you can Change
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.
Facts about how stopping smoking can help lower your heart disease risk.
References
Arnett DK, Blumenthal RS, Albert MA. 2019 ACC/AHA guideline on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on clinical practice guidelines. Circulation. 2020;141(16):e774. PMID: 30879355
Eckel RH, Jakicic JM, Ard JD, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC Guidelines on lifestyle management to reduce cardiovascular risk: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(25 Pt B):2960-2984. PMID: 24239922
Genest J, Mora S, Libby P. Lipoprotein disorders and cardiovascular disease. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Tomaselli GF, Bhatt DL, Solomon SD, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 12th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 27.
Mora S, Libby P, Ridker PM. Primary prevention of coronary heart disease. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Tomaselli GF, Bhatt DL, Solomon SD, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 12th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 25.
Version Info
Last reviewed on: 8/23/2022
Reviewed by: Thomas S. Metkus, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
