Heart Disease – Family History and You
Studies have shown that a strong link exists between heart disease and family history. They reveal that one’s risk goes up if a first-degree relative such as a father, mother or sibling has or had heart disease. This is especially true if the relative had heart disease before reaching the age of 55 years old if male, and 60 if female.
As far as I know, neither my mother – who died at 62 from ovarian cancer, nor my father who is quite healthy at 78 – have no heart disease. My father is still active and can walk for hours without getting too tired. As for my brothers and sisters, they have not complained about any heart trouble either.
If you have someone with coronary artery disease in your immediate family, you would do good to have your heart condition evaluated, including special blood test to look for heart disease markers. You may have silent risk factors. Having tests at a young age especially, will let you control and lower your risk, improving your chances of a heart disease free existence.
High cholesterol is not always a concern for heart disease. It’s the inflammatory kind of cholesterol that usually worries doctors. So be sure to clarify with your doctor if your cholesterol is this type. It is also important to test for diabetes, as it can increase the risk of having cardiovascular disease.
Having a family history of heart disease doesn’t have to be a definite death sentence for all. There are several ways you can follow to avoid developing heart disease at an early age. Smoking has been proven to be a prime cause of coronary heart disease so if you are a smoker, STOP NOW! Being overweight is also an important factor so keeping it down can help too. Eating right and maintaining a regular exercise routine can greatly contribute to delaying heart disease symptoms.
My immediate family have no history of heart disease yet I developed coronary artery disease when I was 40 years old. That just goes to say a lot about how I lived my life before that age. I did not watch what I ate. I smoked and I did not exercise. Knowing I had diabetes did not help at all as I ignored its symptoms. Most of all, I did not submit myself to the tests that should have pointed me to the right direction.
People with a genetic predisposition to heart disease don’t have to be slaves to inherent limitations it imposes on them. Most heart doctors agree that a change in lifestyle is one way to prevent or delay heart attacks. It should start at an early age and the sooner you do it, the better chances you will have.
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