Heart Disease
Other Risk Factors for Heart Disease
What Else Affects Heart Disease?
Other risk factors include physical inactivity and a family history of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes also is more common among American Indians, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Women who have had diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) or have given birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.
Symptoms of diabetes may include fatigue, nausea, frequent urination, unusual thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, frequent infections, and slow healing of sores. But type 2 diabetes develops gradually and sometimes has no symptoms. Even if you have no symptoms of diabetes, if you are overweight and have any of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes, ask your doctor about getting tested for it. You have diabetes if your fasting blood glucose level is 126 mg/dL or higher.
If you have diabetes, controlling your blood glucose (blood sugar) levels will help to prevent complications. Because diabetes is so strongly linked with heart disease, managing diabetes must include keeping certain factors under control. Recommended levels of blood pressure and blood cholesterol control are lower for people with diabetes than for most others.
Not smoking, being physically active, and taking aspirin daily (if your doctor recommends it) also are important ways to prevent heart disease if you have diabetes.
Some people do not yet have diabetes, but are at high risk for developing the disease. More than 14 million Americans have a condition known as “prediabetes,” in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not yet in the diabetic range. Prediabetes is defined as a fasting blood glucose level of 100-125 mg/dL. New research shows that many people with prediabetes can prevent or delay the development of diabetes by making modest changes in diet and level of physical activity.
People who are prediabetic also have a 50 percent greater chance of having a heart attack or stroke than those with normal blood glucose levels. If you are prediabetic, you’ll need to pay close attention to preventing or controlling high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and other risk factors for heart disease.
A number of other factors affect heart disease, including certain health conditions, medicines, and other substances. Here is what you need to know:
Stress
Stress is linked to heart disease in a number of ways. Research shows that the most commonly reported “trigger” for a heart attack is an emotionally upsetting event, particularly one involving anger.
In addition, some common ways of coping with stress, such as overeating, heavy drinking, and smoking, are clearly bad for your heart. The good news is that sensible health habits can have a protective effect. Regular physical activity not only relieves stress, but also can directly lower your risk of heart disease. Stress management programs can also help you develop new ways of handling everyday life challenges. Good relationships count, too. Developing strong personal ties reduces the chances of developing heart disease.
Much remains to be learned about the connections between stress and heart disease, but a few things are clear. Staying physically active, developing a wide circle of supportive people in your life, and sharing your feelings and concerns with them can help you be happier and live longer.
Alcohol
Recent research suggests that moderate drinkers are less likely to develop heart disease than people who don’t drink any alcohol or who drink too much. Small amounts of alcohol may help protect against heart disease by raising levels of HDL “good” cholesterol.
If you are a nondrinker, this is not a recommendation to start using alcohol. If you are a pregnant woman, if you’re planning to become pregnant, or if you have another health condition that could make alcohol use harmful, you should not drink. Otherwise, if you’re already a moderate drinker, you may be less likely to have a heart attack.
It is important, though, to weigh benefits against risks. Talk with your doctor about your personal risks of heart disease and other health conditions that may be affected by drinking alcohol. With the help of your doctor, decide whether moderate drinking to lower heart attack risk outweighs the possible increased risk of other medical problems.
If you do decide to use alcohol, remember that moderation is the key. Heavy drinking causes many heart-related problems. More than three drinks per day can raise blood pressure and triglyceride levels, while binge drinking can contribute to stroke. Too much alcohol also can damage the heart muscle, leading to heart failure.
Overall, people who drink heavily on a regular basis have higher rates of heart disease than either moderate drinkers or nondrinkers.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a serious disorder in which a person briefly and repeatedly stops breathing during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea are more likely to develop high blood pressure, heart attack, congestive heart failure, and stroke.
Sleep apnea tends to develop in middle age, and men are twice as likely as women to have the condition. Other factors that increase risk are overweight and obesity, smoking, using alcohol or sleeping pills, and a family history of sleep apnea. Symptoms include heavy snoring and gasping or choking during sleep, along with extreme daytime sleepiness.
If you think you might have sleep apnea, ask your doctor for a test called a polysomnography, which is usually performed overnight in a sleep center. If you are overweight, even a small weight loss-10 percent of your current weight-can relieve mild cases of sleep apnea. Other self-help treatments include quitting smoking and avoiding alcohol and sleeping pills. Sleeping on your side rather than on your back also may help. Some people benefit from a mechanical device that helps maintain a regular breathing pattern by increasing air pressure through the nasal passages via a face mask.
For very serious cases, surgery may be needed.
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