Baylor Health Care System

Heart and Vascular Disease: Are You at Risk?

 

Some risk factors for heart disease can be controlled by lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. Others, like gender, age, and family history, cannot be changed.

The more risk factors a person has for coronary artery disease (CAD), the more likely it is that the person will develop heart problems or have a heart attack. Risk factors for CAD include:

• Being a man older than age 35
• Being a woman who has gone through menopause
• Being overweight
• Having high blood pressure (hypertension)
• Having diabetes
• Having high cholesterol
• Having a family history of heart disease
• Smoking cigarettes
• Being physically inactive
• Using cocaine and amphetamines

Baylor professionals offer a HeartBeat Risk Profile Test. Baylor also provides a wellness and disease prevention program, Leap for Life, that utilizes behavior change techniques to achieve better health.