Risk Factors for Heart Disease Risk Factors for Coronary Artery Heart Disease Smoking Smoking is one of the most important risk factors for developing coronary artery disease.
Smokers have a significantly increased risk of early heart attack.
There are a number of factors that are important in promoting coronary artery disease. Once arteriosclerosis does develop smoking may cause a heart attack to happen. The positive effects of stopping smoking are seen within a matter of hours. It is never too late to stop smoking. Those patients who stop smoking after a heart attack, angioplasty or bypass surgery have a much better prognosis than those who continue to smoke do.