isk Factors of Coronary Artery Disease About Coronary Artery Disease Your coronary arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood, oxygen and other nutrients to your heart. To work as it should, your heart needs a steady supply of oxygen and these other nutrients. When your arteries become clogged by cholesterol and fat deposits (called plaque) they narrow and do not allow enough blood through to your heart. This is called coronary artery disease or CAD*. CAD is the leading cause of death in men and women in the US.
Risk factors and control Things that increase your chances of getting CAD are called risk factors. Some risk factors you can control. You may have no control over other risk factors, like: H aving a family history of early heart disease
– A father or brother with heart disease before age 55
– A mother or sister with heart disease before age 65 B eing male A ge
– For men – 45 years or older
– For women – 55 years or older
The risk factors for CAD are not always the result of family history or aging, though. * (sometimes
called atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries)
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isk Factors of Coronary Artery Disease Factors you can control
How to control what you can
These are risk factors you may have some control over:
Risk factors like high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and obesity often start in childhood. This may be due to lifestyle and environment.
Smoking or being around others who are smoking. Having high blood cholesterol (total cholesterol over 200 mg dl, LDL “bad” cholesterol over 100 mg/dl and triglycerides over 150 mg/dl). This is the main cause of CAD. Having low HDL (“good” cholesterol levels (40 mg/dl or below for men; 50 mg/dl or below for women).
But it’s not too late to make changes. Here’s what you can do: make lifestyle changes –
• lose weight, • stay positive if you need to • limit your alcohol • don’t smoke use (men, no more than 2 drinks a day, • control your women, no more stress, learn than 1 drink a day) to relax
Being overweight. Not being physically active. Having high blood pressure or hypertension (higher than 140/90). Having unmanaged diabetes. (People with diabetes have 2 to 4 times more risk of heart disease.) These may also help lead to CAD: unmanaged stress
do some aerobic exercise each day, (150 minutes a week—at least)
depression drinking too much alcohol high levels of homocysteine (an amino acid) in your blood
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follow a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet
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