Silent Assassin: Heart Attack Risk Factors

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Silent Assassin: Heart Attack Risk Factors :

Sep 10, 2007

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There's a killer on the loose. In fact, the most deadly, dangerous killer of our time. Quietly stalking his prey, waiting until his victim is weak and vulnerable, and then, striking without warning with heartbreaking efficiency.

More deadly than Gacy, Dahmer, Berkowitz, Bundy and the BTK killer combined -- heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in the United States. Be afraid, be very afraid.According to Dr. Curtis Mark Rimmerman, cardiologist, echocardiographer, medical director for Cleveland Clinic Westlake and author of Heart Attack: A Cleveland Clinic Guide , just because you don’t have any symptoms, doesn’t mean you’re not at risk for heart disease.

"Thirty to 40 percent of people with significant obstructive coronary artery disease -- plaque buildup on the inside of heart artery walls, which reduces blood flow -- have no symptoms at all until their first heart attack," explains Dr. Rimmerman.

So how can people protect themselves? By recognizing and managing the risk factors associated with heart disease, according to Dr. Rimmerman.

“The main way we gauge the likelihood of heart disease and heart attack is by taking an inventory of risk factors."

There are two types of risk factors that affect the heart and heart disease: modifiable risk factors, those that can be controlled by lifestyle and behavioral changes, and those that cannot, or nonmodifiable risk factors, says Dr. Rimmerman.

Nonmodifiable Risk Factors
Getting on in years: “Over 83 percent of people who die of coronary heart disease are 65 or older. At older ages, women who have heart attacks are more likely than men are to die from them within a few weeks,” Dr. Rimmerman writes.

Just being a man: Men have a greater risk of heart attacks than women, and they tend to have attacks earlier in life, according to Dr. Rimmerman.

Family tradition: “Genes are the No. 1 risk factor for coronary artery disease,” he explains. “Children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves.”