1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Heart Disease
General Information on Cardiac Risk Factors
 Related Resources
• Assess your risk for heart disease
• What to do if your risk is high
 Risk factors and what to do about them



 Elsewhere on the Web
• Quit smoking
• Exercise
• Nutrition
• Stress management
• Weight loss

 


The Cardiac Risk Factors - General Information


Traditional risk factors are even more important than we thought
Conventional wisdom holds that the classical risk factors for coronary artery disease only account for 50% of heart attacks - hence the search for "newer and better" risk factors to measure. Now two new studies suggest otherwise: almost all patients who die from coronary artery disease turn out to have at least one of the Big 4 Risk Factors.

Doctors drop the ball on risk assessment
Formally assessing your risk of coronary artery disease is one of the most important things your doctor can do for you. This is true for two reasons. First, unless a specific effort is made to proactively assess that risk, the very first sign of actual trouble is likely to be sudden death. And second, if the risk is elevated, there are very effective methods for reducing that risk. DrRich discusses what your doctor should be doing to measure your risk - and what you can be doing yourself.

Links related to cardiac risk factors

 

What do you think? Enter the Heart Disease Forum:

Subscribe to the Newsletter
Name
Email


 

Explore Heart Disease
About.com Special Features

A Balanced Life

Bring your life into balance with tips on good nutrition, family fun, and healthy activities. More >

8 Ways to Cut Drug Costs

Keep yourself, and your family, happy and healthy this season. More >

We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.
  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Heart Disease

©2010 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.