General Characteristics of the Risk Factors
In the last decade, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of deaths from heart attacks.
In 1970, nearly a million Americans died of cardiovascular disease; now the annual toll is below
600,000. The cause for this improved mortality rate are unknown, but most experts believe that the
increased awareness of cardiovascular risk factors and their correction have played an important
role in cutting the death toll.
What are the risks?
Eventually, about half of all Americans develop some form of heart disease. The most common is a
hardening of the arteries caused by a buildup of fatty deposits along the vessel lining. This is
a slow process that usually takes many years to develop into serious disease. If the coronary arteries,
which supply blood to the heart muscle, become severely blocked by the fatty deposits, warning
symptoms of heart disease may appear. These include shortness of breath, chest pains (angina pectoris)
that are relieved by rest, or a combination of the two. In many people, however, there are no warning
signs -- the first symptom of heart disease may be a heart attack. This is why it is important to
identify and correct possible risk factors before they reach this stage.
In recent years, a number of these risk factors have been identified. Some of them, such as age,
sex and family history of heart disease, are things over which we have no control. But there also
are a number of factors that can be modified or eliminated, and such action appears to reduce the
portability of a heart attack. The three most important controllable risk factors are high blood
pressure, high levels of blood cholesterol and cigarette smoking. In fact, many experts attribute
the recent decline in cardiovascular deaths to the fact that more people than ever before are now
being treated for high blood pressure. Changes in the American diet that have reduced the
consumption of butter, eggs and animal fats - and consequently lowered the average blood cholesterol
-- and a reduction in smoking by middle-aged men also are credited with lowering the toll. Since the
likelihood of developing heart disease increases when two or more risk factors are present, modifying
the controllable ones helps reduce the hazard of those over which we have no control.
