Causes of a Heart attack

Causes of a Heart attack

What are the causes of a heart attack?

·         Age - the largest risk factor. When a man is over 45 years, and a woman is over 55 years of age, their risk of having a heart attack starts to rise significantly.

·         Angina - angina is an illness where not enough oxygen is reaching the patient's heart. This raises the risk of a heart attack.

·         Blood cholesterol levels - if a person's blood cholesterol levels are high, he/she runs a higher risk of developing blood clots in the arteries. Blood clots can block the supply of blood to the heart muscle, causing a heart attack.

·         Diabetes - people with diabetes have a higher risk of developing several diseases and conditions, many of them contribute to a higher risk of heart attack.

·         Diet - a person who consumes large quantities of, for example, animal fats, or saturated fats, will eventually have a higher risk of having a heart attack.

·         Genes - you can inherit a higher risk of heart attack from your parents, and/or their parents. A person whose sibling died of a heart attack has a higher risk of suffering a fatal heart attack, a report published in the Journal of the American Heart Association informed.

·         Heart surgery - patients who have had heart surgery have a higher risk of having a heart attack.

·         Hypertension (high blood pressure) - this could be due to lack of physical activity, overweight/obesity, diabetes, genes, and some other factors.

·         Obesity, overweight - as more and more people are overweight, especially children, experts believe heart attacks will become more common in future.

·         Physical inactivity - people who do not exercise have a much higher risk of having a heart attack, compared to people who exercise regularly.

·         Previous heart attack - anybody who has already had a heart attack is more likely to have another one, compared to other people.

·         Smoking - people who smoke heavily or regularly run a much higher risk of heart attack, compared to people who never smoked and those who gave up. Smoking regularly means smoking every day.