Will you suffer from a heart attack if there is a family history of heart disease?

No, you cannot blame genes for a heart attack, read to know why!

Debjani Arora | Published: March 1, 2018 8:25 pm

Some people love to blame their health condition to genetics and heredity. Since a family history of heart diseases is thought to be a risk factor in developing coronary heart diseases and cardiovascular diseases in future, many people take it for granted that they are doomed to suffer a heart condition because it runs in the family. But the truth is, even if you have this risk factor making it tricky for you to safeguard your heart, a lot can be done to prevent the onset of heart diseases – eating right, exercising, yoga and meditation, controlling stress and more. But people seldom do the right and blame it on family history if they get a heart attack or are diagnosed with a heart condition. Here is the difference between cardiac arrest, heart attack and heart fail.

We spoke to Dr Irfan Khan, Consultant Cardiologist, Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai to know if one is destined to suffer from heart condition if it runs in the family. Here is what he has to say,

‘It’s a widespread misconception that if you have a family history of heart disease, you are bound to have heart problems, the problem is that genetic factors need environmental factors also to manifest themselves especially in case of heart diseases. In fact, heart disease runs in the family, because no one runs in the family.

‘The clustering of a sedentary lifestyle, low exercise and diabetes among family members make them more prone to having heart disease rather than the genetic factors. It is pertinent to recognize that modifiable risk factors like diabetes, hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, lack of exercise, stress all play a much important role in the early onset of heart diseases rather than genetic factors. Major reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular disease, worldwide have been found with the control of modifiable risk factors and hence individuals with a strong family history of heart disease would need to evaluate the clustering of risk factors among the family members and take appropriate action.’ Read to know if cholesterol is really bad for your heart.

Now, this breaks the myth that family history will make one prone to suffer from a heart attack. In fact, if there are other risk factors that contribute towards making someone prone to heart diseases those needs to be taken into consideration and acted on with stern seriousness. The importance of diet and exercise in keeping the heart healthy cannot be stated enough. However, the modern day lifestyle is making us an eat-at-the-desk jockey and an expanding mass of flesh that keeps on ballooning at the girth. If these two factors can be controlled a lot of problems can be tackled. The right diet can help to control blood glucose levels, keep the arteries healthy and suppress the genetic factors that can work against you. So, it is better to take charge of your life rather than blaming your genes when you get a heart attack.

Image source: Shutterstock

Published: March 1, 2018 8:25 pm

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