By Michele Saylor

Heart disease affects millions of people each year, either directly or indirectly. Knowing your risk factors for heart disease is vital. Heredity is an important factor in determining your risk for heart disease.

The strongest hereditary risk factors are cholesterol abnormalities, diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Everyone should determine their risk factors for heart disease and should monitor the risk factors that they can control.

1. Cholesterol Abnormalities2. High Blood Pressure3. Diabetes4. Obesity

Cholesterol abnormalities include higher levels of low-density lipoprotein and are associated with an increased risk for heart disease.

High cholesterol has no symptoms and is more common if you have a family history of it.

1. Special Diet2. Exercise3. Sometimes a prescription medication

prescribed from your doctor

When the heart pumps blood into the arteries, the blood flows with a force pushing against the walls of the arteries.

Blood pressure is the product of the flow of blood times the resistance in the blood vessels.

Blood pressure is measured with a blood pressure cuff and recorded as two numbers.

The top, larger number is called the systolic pressure. This is the pressure generated when the heart contracts. It reflects the pressure of the blood against arterial walls.

The bottom, smaller number is called the diastolic pressure. This reflects the pressure in the arteries while the heart is filling and resting between heartbeats.

The normal range for blood pressure is 120/70mm Hg.

People whose blood pressure is consistently higher than this normal range are said to have high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is a blood pressure greater to or equal to 140 mm Hg systolic pressure or greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg diastolic pressure.

As many as 60 million Americans have high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is a lifelong disease.

1. Reduce the saturated fat in your diet. You should eat less salt and become more active.

2. Quit smoking if you smoke. 3. Reduce the amount of alcohol that you

drink. 4. Your doctor may prescribe a blood

pressure medicine

Family history is also a way of determining if you are at risk for high blood pressure.

People from families in which high blood pressure is common, have an increased hereditary risk of developing high blood pressure.

There are two forms of diabetes1. Type 1 diabetes2. Type 2 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disease that develops when the pancreas stops producing insulin.

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults.

Type 2 diabetes is a disease that happens when the cells of the body can not use insulin the right way or the pancreas can not make enough insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes.

In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able the use glucose for energy.

When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body.

When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause two problems.1. The first problem is your cells may be starved for

energy. 2. The second problem is that over time, high blood

glucose levels may hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves, or heart

Excessive thirst and appetite Increased urination Unusual weight loss or weight gain Fatigue Nausea, perhaps vomiting Blurred vision In women, frequent vaginal infections Yeast infections Dry mouth Slow-healing sores or cuts Itching skin, especially in the groin or vaginal

area

Practice healthy eating habits. Exercise regularly. If healthy eating habits and exercising

regularly do not work then oral medications or insulin may be prescribed.

Obesity is defined as ranges of weight that are greater than what is generally considered healthy for a given height.

The terms also identify ranges of weight that have been shown to increase the likelihood of certain diseases and other health problems.

For adults, obesity ranges are determined by using weight and height to calculate a number call the body mass index (BMI).

An adult who has a body mass index between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.

An adult who has a body mass index of 30 or higher is considered obese.

Practicing healthy eating habits Exercising regularly Surgery

To determine your risk factors for heart disease you should look to your parents and siblings because these relatives are most strongly linked to familial risk for heart disease.

Several large clinical trials have examines the impact of premature cardiovascular disease in one or both parents on the risk of coronary heart disease in their offspring, including the Physician’s Health Study of over 22,000 men and the Women’s Health Study of over 39,000 women

Each study showed that premature cardiovascular disease in either parent increases the risk of coronary heart disease for children of either sex.

In each study, the risk to offspring was greater if the single affected parent was the mother.

Both studies also demonstrated additional risk if both parents, rather than just one, have premature heart disease.

The Framingham Offspring Study found that heart disease in siblings is a risk factor for heart disease in middle-aged adults. This study found that the sibling contribution to risk was higher than that of the parent

Exercise regularly Maintain an ideal body weight Abstain from tobacco and alcohol Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily

I hope that you are now aware of the link between heart disease and heredity. Heart health is important.

It is vital to know your complete heart health family history so that you can make excellent choices concerning your heart health.

To achieve excellent heart health you should get your cholesterol checked, determine if you have high blood pressure, get a diabetes screening, and lose weight if you are obese.