Heart Disease Risk Factors

OT Dude Academy’s Free NBCOT® Exam Prep Course Cardiology Heart Disease Risk Factors

 

Modifiable Risk Factors1 2 3 

  • Hypertension – treat high blood pressure
  • Dyslipidemia – lower cholesterol through diet, exercise, and medications
  • Diabetes – control blood sugar if diabetic
  • Obesity – (increased abdominal fat) lose of excess weight
  • Smoking – stop smoking
  • Dietary factors (decreased consumption of fruits and vegetables) – limit fats, sugars, and starches
  • Inadequate physical exercise – exercise at least 30 minutes most days of the week
  • Alcohol consumption – limit ETOH consumption
  • Psychosocial factors – treating depression, preventing social isolation, and providing quality social support4 
    • Stress: Psychosocial stress can be acute or chronic (e.g., bereavement, job loss) and may be related to coronary heart disease, but it is still unclear and requires continued research.4 5 

Not Correctable

  1. Kannel, W. B. (2002). Coronary heart disease risk factors in the elderly. The American journal of geriatric cardiology, 11(2), 101-107.[↩]
  2. McGorrian, C., Yusuf, S., Islam, S., Jung, H., Rangarajan, S., Avezum, A., … & INTERHEART Investigators. (2011). Estimating modifiable coronary heart disease risk in multiple regions of the world: the INTERHEART Modifiable Risk Score. European heart journal, 32(5), 581-589.[↩]
  3. Yusuf, S., Hawken, S., Ôunpuu, S., Dans, T., Avezum, A., Lanas, F., … & INTERHEART Study Investigators. (2004). Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case-control study. The lancet, 364(9438), 937-952.[↩]
  4. Bunker, S. J., Colquhoun, D. M., Esler, M. D., Hickie, I. B., Hunt, D., Jelinek, V. M., … & Tonkin, A. M. (2003). “Stress” and coronary heart disease: psychosocial risk factors. Medical Journal of Australia, 178(6), 272-276.[↩][↩]
  5. Glozier, N., Tofler, G. H., Colquhoun, D. M., Bunker, S. J., Clarke, D. M., Hare, D. L., … & Branagan, M. G. (2013). Psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease. Medical Journal of Australia, 199(3), 179-180.[↩]
  6. Jousilahti, P., Vartiainen, E., Tuomilehto, J., & Puska, P. (1999). Sex, age, cardiovascular risk factors, and coronary heart disease: a prospective follow-up study of 14 786 middle-aged men and women in Finland. Circulation, 99(9), 1165-1172.[↩]
  7. Roeters van Lennep, J. E., Westerveld, H. T., Erkelens, D. W., & van der Wall, E. E. (2002). Risk factors for coronary heart disease: implications of gender. Cardiovascular research, 53(3), 538-549.[↩]
  8. Matthews, K. A., Meilahn, E., Kuller, L. H., Kelsey, S. F., Caggiula, A. W., & Wing, R. R. (1989). Menopause and risk factors for coronary heart disease. New England journal of medicine, 321(10), 641-646.[↩]
  9. Leander, K., Hallqvist, J., Reuterwall, C., Ahlbom, A., & de Faire, U. (2001). Family history of coronary heart disease, a strong risk factor for myocardial infarction interacting with other cardiovascular risk factors: results from the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program (SHEEP). Epidemiology, 215-221.[↩]
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