Who Is At Risk for a Heart Attack?

Who Is At Risk for a Heart Attack?


Certain risk factors make it more likely that you will develop coronary artery disease (CAD) and have a heart attack. Some risk factors for heart attack can be controlled, while others can't.

Major risk factors for heart attack that you can control include:

1.Smoking

2.High blood pressure

3.High blood cholesterol

4.Overweight and obesity

5.Physical inactivity

6.Diabetes (high blood sugar)


Risk factors that you can't change include:

1.Age. Risk increases for men older than 45 years and for women older than 55 years (or after menopause).

2.Family history of early CAD. Your risk increases if your father or a brother was diagnosed with CAD before 55 years of age, or if your mother or a sister was diagnosed with CAD before 65 years of age.

Certain CAD risk factors tend to occur together. When they do, it’s called metabolic syndrome. In general, a person with metabolic syndrome is twice as likely to develop heart disease and five times as likely to develop diabetes as someone without metabolic syndrome.

Other Common Signs and Symptoms :

Other common signs and symptoms that a person can have during a heart attack include:


1.Upper body discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach

2.Shortness of breath may often occur with or before chest discomfort

3.Nausea (feeling sick to your stomach), vomiting, lightheadedness or fainting, or breaking out in a cold sweat

Not everyone having a heart attack experiences the typical symptoms. If you’ve already had a heart attack, your symptoms may not be the same for another one. The more signs and symptoms you have, the more likely it is that you’re having a heart attack.

Act Fast


Sometimes the signs and symptoms of a heart attack happen suddenly, but they can also develop slowly, over hours, days, and even weeks before a heart attack occurs.

Know the warning signs of a heart attack so you can act fast to get treatment for yourself or someone else. The sooner you get emergency help, the less damage there will be to your heart.

Don’t drive yourself or anyone else to the hospital. Call an ambulance so that medical personnel can begin life-saving treatment on the way to the emergency room.