If you want to avoid the risk of heart disease and premature death by heart attack, you need to be aware of all the risk factors. The tendency toward heart disease does run in families. If one or both of your parents had a heart attack before the age of 60, your risk for heart disease is doubled. For an individual with a family history of heart disease, controlling the other risk factors is absolutely essential. Sex is the another predetermined risk factor.
Men have a much greater chance of having a heart attack by the age of sixty than do women.
Women are protected by their hormones prior to menopause. However, this does not mean that women can rule out heart diesease as a potential killer. Though their risk is much less in middle age, with the onset of menopause this advantage disappears. In fact, heart disease is the number one cause of death in older women. Race also plays a role in heart disease.