Certain risk factors make it more likely that youll develop coronary heart disease (CHD) and have a heart attack. You can control many of these risk factors. Risk Factors You Can Control The major risk factors for a heart attack that you can control include: Smoking High blood pressure High blood cholesterol Overweight and obesity An unhealthy diet (for example, a diet high in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium) Lack of routine physical activity High blood sugar due to insulin resistance or diabetes Some of these risk factorssuch as obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood sugartend to occur together. When they do, its called metabolic syndrome. In general, a person who has metabolic syndrome is twice as likely to develop heart disease and five times as likely to develop diabetes as someone who doesnt have metabolic syndrome. For more information about the risk factors that are part of metabolic syndrome, go to the Health Topics Metabolic Syndrome article. Risk Factors You Cant Control Risk factors that you cant control include: Age. The risk of heart disease increases for men after age 45 and for women after age 55 (or after menopause). Family history of early heart disease. Your risk increases if your father or a brother was diagnosed with heart disease before 55 years of age, or if your mother or a sister was diagnosed with heart disease before 65 years of age. Preeclampsia (pre-e-KLAMP-se-ah). This condition can develop during pregnancy. The two main signs of preeclampsia are a rise in blood pressure and excess protein in the urine. Preeclampsia is linked to an increased lifetime risk of heart disease, including CHD, heart attack, heart failure, and high blood pressure. 
Who is at risk for Heart Attack? ?