As is the case with HIV and cancer, there are things we can do to improve our health and our chances relative to cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association has identified several factors that increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Some of them can be changed, and some cannot. About four out of five people who die of coronary heart disease are ages 65 or older. At older ages, women who have heart attacks are twice as likely as men are to die from them within a few weeks.
Men have a greater risk of heart attack than women, and they have attacks earlier in life.
Even after menopause, when women's death rate from heart disease increases, it's not as great as men's. Children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves. African Americans have more severe hypertension than whites. Consequently, their risk of heart disease is greater. Cigarette and tobacco smoke.