Heart Disease Causes & Risk Factors

There is no one particular cause or reason behind heart diseases. A combination several risk factors lead towards acquiring a cardiac disease, which can be classified into modifiable and non-modifiable.

Non-modifiable risk factors

• Ageing

  Getting old is one of the biggest risk factor which cannot be dealt with. As we age, risk of cardiac diseases increases manifold.

• Family History

  A family history of cardiovascular disease makes you prone towards it.

• Gender

  Men are at greater risk of heart disease than a pre-menopausal woman.  Post menopause, the risk for both becomes similar

• Ethnicity

  African and Asians are at higher risks of developing cardiac disease than other racial groups.

Modifiable risk factors

• Hypertension

  High blood pressure plays a significant role in heart attacks and thankfully it can be prevented and successfully treated if diagnosed at early and managed properly.

• Cholesterol

  High total cholesterol and low HDL or good cholesterol increase the risk of heart disease.

• Smoking or tobacco use

  Both of these increases risks of cardiac disease.  Long term passive smoking is also a risk factor. 

• Physical inactivity

  Not moving around too much and as a result gaining weight increase the risk of heart disease.  Obesity is a risk factor for diabetes and diabetes in turn is a big risk factor for heart diseases.

• Diet

  High saturated fat diet increases the risk of heart disease.

• Alcohol

  Binge drinking or excessive consumption of alcohol will damage the heart muscle.

• Medication

  Certain drugs such as the contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may increase the risk of Coronary heart diseases.

There are different reasons behind heart disease and one should avoid everything that could lead to a potential threat. Unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise, hypertension, and disease heredity are some of the prominent reasons behind increasing the possibility of heart disease. You can avoid it with the help of a health checkup such as essential heart checkup, which is specially created for health diagnosis. This precautionary health checkup is useful in identifying the problems, which can be addressed before they affect severely. So don't neglect your health, if you have any queries, contact us through the query form. We will help you with the answers.