Family History
What is family history?
When your doctor is assessing your risk of
cardiovascular disease,
he/she will ask about your family history. You are considered to
have a family history of cardiovascular disease if:
- your father or brother was under the age of 55
when they were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease or,
- your mother or sister was under the age of 65
when they were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.
How does family history affect me?
If you have a family history of cardiovascular disease, you have
an increased risk of developing the condition.
There are risk factors that increase your risk of getting
coronary heart disease. These are related to lifestyle habits
that are passed on from one generation to
the next. These risk factors are:
- smoking
- high blood pressure
- high blood cholesterol
- physical inactivity
- being overweight or obese, or
- having diabetes.
Genes can also pass on the risk of cardiovascular disease, and
they can also be responsible for passing on other conditions such
as high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels.
Can I do anything about my family history?
Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about your family
history. Having a family history of cardiovascular disease is
a 'non-modifiable' risk factor - this means it's a
risk factor that you can't change. But the good news is that even
if you have a family history, you can reduce your risk of getting
cardiovascular disease by:
- not smoking
- managing high blood pressure
- managing high blood cholesterol
- being physically active
- keeping to a healthy weight and body shape, and
- controlling diabetes, if you have it.
If you have family history of cardiovascular disease,
make sure you tell your doctor. They may want to
check your blood pressure and cholesterol. If you are over 40 years
of age, you can visit your doctor and ask for a heart health check
to find out your risk of getting cardiovascular disease.
Other factors
Your risk of developing cardiovascular disease also depends on
other factors, such as your age. The older you
are, the more likely you are to develop cardiovascular disease.
Also, certain ethnic groups have a different level of risk.
South Asian people living in the UK are one and a half times more
likely to die from coronary heart disease before the age of 75 than
the rest of the UK population. Your age and ethnic
background are also risk factors that you can't do
anything about.
More information
Visit our Publications
section to order:
Booklets:
Reducing
your blood cholesterol
Blood pressure
Eating for your heart
Keep your heart healthy
Smoking and how to give up
So you want to lose weight....for good
Get active
DVDs:
Living to prevent heart disease
Risking it
|
