Your risk for heart disease is determined by your age, lifestyle, family history and overall health. The more risk factors you have, the greater your chances of heart disease. Here’s what you can’t change: age, family history and race. Your risk rises as you get older, and you’re even more vulnerable if your father or brother was diagnosed with heart disease before 55 or your mother or sister was diagnosed before 65. Black women 44 to 64 are more likely to have a heart attack than white women of the same age for reasons that aren’t yet clear to researchers.
If any of these strike home, concentrate on what you can change. If you’re a smoker, quitting should be at the top of your list. More than half of all heart attacks in women under 50 are smoking-related, but quitting lowers your risk by a third within two years. If you have diabetes, your chances of a heart attack may triple. Losing weight and keeping your diabetes under control will improve your odds. High blood pressure puts extra stress on artery walls and the heart muscle. You can get your blood pressure under control through diet, exercise and medication. Know your cholesterol levels. If they’re high, change your diet, get more exercise and ask your doctor whether you’re a candidate for cholesterol-lowering medication. Nearly two thirds of American women over 20 are overweight or obese; if you’re one of them, losing even 10 pounds can lower your risk.
