Risk factors for Atherosclerosis

There are two types of factors that increase your chance of atherosclerosis:

• Risk factors you cannot control:
  • Father or brother who developed complications of atherosclerosis before age 55 or mother or sister who developed complications of atherosclerosis before age 65
  • Age: 45 and older for men; 55 and older for women
  • Sex: men have a greater risk of heart attack than women
• Risk factors you can control:
  • High cholesterol -especially LDL ("bad") cholesterol and low HDL (“good”) cholesterol
  • High blood pressure
  • Cigarette smoking
  • Diabetes, type 1 and type 2
  • Overweight and obesity
  • Lack of physical activity
  • Metabolic syndrome -a combination of three out of the following five findings:
    • Low HDL-cholesterol-also called good cholesterol
    • High triglycerides
    • Elevated blood sugar
    • Elevated blood pressure
    • Increased waist circumference (greater than 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women).