Heart Disease: Can You Alter Your Fate?

By Anne Smithe

Women need to understand more than just the symptoms of heart disease. They need to know the risk factors and how these factors can be dealt with or avoided.

Age may increase risk if you are older than 55 or have passed menopause. The older you get, the more likely you are to develop heart disease. Postmenopausal women are much more likely to develop the disease than premenopausal women. Doctors believe that this is because estrogen provides premenopausal women with natural protection.

Family history may increase the hazard of heart attack if your father or brother had one before age 55 or your mother or sister had one before 65.

Previous heart disease or stroke increases the likelihood of future occurrences. See your doctor regularly.

Smoking is the single greatest cause of preventable death in the United States, and it is more of a risk factor for heart disease in women than it is in men. A woman who smokes has two to four times the risk of having a heart attack and is more likely than a nonsmoker to die from the attack.

Elevated total cholesterol, low HDL (“good” cholesterol) levels, and high triglycerides are telltale signs of risk. Although a woman’s total blood cholesterol level is less important in evaluating her risk of heart disease than a man’s, two other measures are extremely important. One is the ratio of the level of her HDL cholesterol to the level of her LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. A high HDL level lowers the risk for heart disease. Lower levels of HDL appear to be a stronger heart disease indicator for women than for men. The other important factor is the level of triglycerides. High triglycerides seem to play a greater role in increasing the risk of heart disease for women than for men.

High blood pressure increases the likelihood of stroke. This is of special concern for African-Americans, who are prone to higher blood pressure and are at higher risk for heart disease than white Americans.

Excess weight and body fat, especially around the middle and waist, are dangerous. About 55 percent of adult Americans, or 97 million people, are overweight or obese, according to figures released in June 2005 by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Obesity increases the strain on your heart and raises blood cholesterol and blood pressure.

Physical inactivity nearly doubles the risk for heart disease.

Diabetes increases stroke and heart attack risk. Women who have diabetes have double the chance of having a heart attack than women who don’t.