The best means for preventing a heart attack is understanding risk factors and making positive lifestyle changes. To help you stay on a heart-healthy track, we've selected a few key areas for you to compare against your own lifestyle. Lifestyle changes as well as new therapies can now help people with diabetes reduce their risk. Family history Inherited or genetic factors clearly play a major role in the development of early heart disease.
New tests are available to assess genetic factors.
High blood pressure High blood pressure has long been linked to heart disease and especially to stroke. There is a significant body of evidence which suggests that lowering blood pressure actually lowers the risk of heart disease. There is no doubt that cholesterol plays a role in heart disease. For information about lowering cholesterol, see your physician. Smoking Everyone recognizes that smokers have higher risk of heart disease.