Heart disease can happen at any age

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Heart disease can be “silent,” causing you to remain undiagnosed until a heart attack, heart failure or an arrhythmia occurs.

As obesity and high blood pressure rates increase, younger people are now at risk for heart disease earlier in life. Understanding the risk factors, and learning how to take care of your heart health, can help you prevent and manage heart disease at any age.

Know the risk factors

Half of Americans have at least one of the top risk factors of heart disease: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and/or obesity. Aside from these major risk factors, other lifestyle choices — such as smoking, physical inactivity and unhealthy eating habits — can put people at an even higher risk for heart disease.

If you know that heart conditions run in your family, it’s important to talk to your primary care physician about your heart health. The risk for heart disease can increase even more when heredity factors combine with unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as smoking cigarettes and eating an unhealthy diet.

Tips for reducing your risk

To help lower your chances of getting heart disease, it’s important to do the following:

• Know your blood pressure.

  Having uncontrolled blood pressure can lead to heart disease. High blood pressure has no symptoms, so it’s important to have your blood pressure checked regularly.

• Get tested for diabetes.

  Talk to your primary care physician about whether you should be tested for diabetes. Having uncontrolled diabetes raises your risk of heart disease.

• Quit smoking.

  If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, take advantage of community resources that can help you quit. Sharp HealthCare offers free smoking cessation classes and support for those looking to quit smoking or chewing tobacco. 

• Make healthy food choices.

  Being overweight or obese increases your risk of heart disease. Sharp HealthCare offers free healthy nutrition classes to support healthy living.

• Limit how much alcohol you consume.

  The CDC recommends women should have one drink or less per day, and men should have two drinks or less per day.

• Manage stress levels.

  Find healthy ways to cope with stress. Sharp HealthCare offers both fee-based and free stress management classes and seminars.

Don’t miss important information on other National Health Observances

The key to staying healthy is prevention. That’s why we promote National Health Observances every month to help spread awareness and keep our members healthy. Learn more about tips on preventing cervical cancer and reducing your risk of colon cancer.