Is a heart attack hereditary?

If someone in your family has a heart attack, you might start to ask yourself if you are at risk of having one too, and if there’s anything you can do to reduce the chances of it happening.

Heart attacks are commonly caused by coronary heart disease, which is a condition where your coronary arteries that carry blood to the heart become narrowed by a build-up of fatty deposits called atheroma.

Different factors can increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease including your family history and your genetics.

Firstly, it’s important to understand the differences between our family history and genetics.

A family history is a record of any health condition that affects your family members, both living and those who have sadly died. This means that if someone you are related to has or has had a condition, you might be at risk of developing it too.

Families can often share similar habits which can be risk factors for conditions that can lead to heart attacks. These include smoking, not being physically active, living with excess weight and having an unhealthy diet.

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Genetic conditions are also part of your family history – these are sometimes called ‘inherited conditions’. Inherited conditions are caused by changes in our genes, which get our genes from our parents.

Some genes can change, which doctors call gene ‘variants’. And these gene variants can raise your risk of developing certain conditions.

However, although you share the same genes as your parents, it does not mean that you will inherit the variant that causes a condition. Or you may carry the genetic variant and not develop the condition.

One of the most common hereditary conditions is familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) that can cause high levels of cholesterol in your blood and increase you risk of having a heart attack.

The genetic variant associated with the condition makes your liver less able to remove LDL cholesterol, or ‘bad’ cholesterol from the blood. Having high levels of LDL cholesterol causes a gradual build-up of fatty material in your coronary arteries, which can cause coronary heart disease.

If you have coronary heart disease, you are at higher risk of having a heart attack. If you are concerned that you might have FH, or you have a history of FH in your family, speak to your GP about further investigations.

A family serving and eating dinner at home.

While you cannot change your family history, or your genetics, there are things you can do to reduce your risk of having a heart attack.

These include staying active and making sure you are maintaining a healthy weight and diet and avoiding alcohol. If you currently smoke or use other tobacco products, you should think about stopping.

You may have other family related risk factors. For example, if you live with, or have a family history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugars, you should take steps to make sure these are managed.

This could be through medicines that can be prescribed in discussion with your doctor, or through lifestyle changes.

If you have a family history of heart and circulatory disease, it’s important to make sure your doctor is aware so you can get any assessments that might be needed.

People aged between 40 and 74 in England are eligible for a free NHS health check where your risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases can be looked at.