Heart Attack Risk Factors

Coronary heart disease (CHD), which is at the root of most heart attacks, is the leading cause of death in the United States. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), approximately 1,000,000 heart attacks occur annually in the United States, of which approximately 157,000 will be fatal [1]. However, there are many lifestyle modifications and medical treatments that can help prevent heart attacks. To determine which treatments will best protect your heart, the first step is to evaluate your risk for suffering a heart attack.

The AHA categorizes heart attack risk factors into two categories: those that can’t be changed and those that can be modified, treated or controlled.

Inherent heart attack risk factors that cannot be changed include:

Increasing age: as you age, you’re at a greater risk of suffering from a heart attack.
Being male: while heart disease affects both men and women, studies have shown that a male’s lifetime risk of heart disease over the age of 40 is 2 in 3 as compared to 1 in 2 for women [2].
Heredity: a family history of heart disease can increase your risk of heart attack. Additionally, African Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians and some Asian Americans are at a greater risk of heart attack than their Caucasian counterparts [3].

Modifiable heart attack risk factors include:

Elevated cholesterol: elevated cholesterol can lead to a heart attack
Elevated blood pressure: increasing the heart’s workload, elevated blood pressure increases risk for a heart attack
Tobacco use: smokers are at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Diabetes: being diabetic increases your danger of a cardiac event. Statistics have shown that approximately three-quarters of people with diabetes die from some form of heart or blood vessel disease.
Physical inactivity: an inactive lifestyle is linked to an increased risk of heart disease.
Obesity and being overweight: being overweight forces your heart to work harder, putting you at increased risk for suffering a heart attack.
Stress: being stressed can cause your heart to work harder than it should and can also lead you to turn to things like overeating and smoking to cope.
Drinking too much alcohol: excessive drinking can raise your blood pressure increasing your heart attack risk [4].

Hidden Risk
Approximately 50 percent of all coronary events strike in people with low-to-moderate cholesterol levels, and about 20 percent occur in individuals with none of the four major modifiable risk factors (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, or diabetes). While risk factor identification remains one of the most important approaches to preventing cardiovascular disease, traditional risk factor assessment alone fails to identify many people at risk [5]. Hidden cardiovascular risk is prevalent, and there is a critical need to look beyond traditional risk factors.

Fortunately, now there is a simple blood test that goes beyond traditional risk factors to help identify individuals at increased risk of heart disease and stroke. The PLAC^® Test is the only FDA-cleared blood test that aids in assessing risk for both CHD and ischemic stroke associated with atherosclerosis [6]. The PLAC Test measures levels of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A₂ (Lp-PLA₂), a vascular-specific inflammatory enzyme implicated in the formation of vulnerable, rupture-prone plaque, which causes the majority of heart attacks and strokes. Used in conjunction with the clinical evaluation of traditional risk factors, the PLAC Test helps identify people may benefit from more aggressive treatment programs.

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