Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, causing heart attacks, stroke, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, heart failure and congenital heart disease among many other conditions. While heart disease can often be inherited, most cases of cardiovascular disease are as a result of lifestyle, such as smoking, lack of exercise, unhealthy diet and excess alcohol.
So how do you identify when you are at risk of cardiovascular disease? Here are 5 of the most common risk factors.
1. Age and gender: 4 out of 5 people who die of a heart attack are over the age of 65. Meanwhile, men face a higher risk of heart attack earlier in life than women but women are twice as likely to die of heart disease as they are from cancer. The most dangerous age for women is during and after the menopause.
2. Genetics: If either of your parents had heart disease, the chances are you too will suffer from it. People from ethnic minorities such as Afro-Caribbean also face an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
3. Smoking: Sparking up will greatly increase your risk of heart disease – smokers are, in fact, twice as likely to have a heart attack as non-smokers while the risk of suffering a stroke also increases if you smoke. If you’re a woman on the Pill who also smokes, beware – your risk of heart disease is also much higher.
4. Alcohol: While some scientific evidence suggests there are health benefits from a daily glass of wine, for example, the reality is that if you drink alcohol regularly your risk of heart disease and stroke will increase.
5. Cholesterol levels: High blood cholesterol levels will raise the risk of coronary heart disease and when one of the other risk factors, such as smoking or age, is also present, the risk increases even further.
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