Heart Attack Prevention

How can you help prevent a heart attack?

The best way to decrease your chances of having a heart attack is to reduce or eliminate the things in your life that lead to heart disease. You can’t change some of your risk factors, such as family history or age, but there are many steps you can take to keep your heart as healthy as possible.

If you’re already at risk or have had a heart attack in the past, the most important thing you can do for your heart health is to undergo routine screening exams and lab studies that help identify worsening issues quickly.

Early diagnosis often leads to the most effective treatment, but it’s never too late to consider one of the many existing therapies that successfully manage heart disease. The healthcare providers at AdvaCardio are interventional cardiologists who specialize in nonsurgical treatments that greatly reduce your risk of having a heart attack.      

What increases my risk of developing heart disease?

Certain lifestyle choices increase your risk for developing heart disease and a subsequent heart attack, including:

• Poor diet
• Lack of exercise
• Weight gain
• Inadequate sleep
• Stress
• Smoking

Medical conditions that increase your risk of developing heart disease include:

• Hypertension (elevated blood pressure)
• Diabetes
• Elevated cholesterol levels
• Metabolic syndrome—a combination of abdominal fat, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar levels, and increased triglycerides

What tests can help evaluate my heart attack risks?

The specialists at AdvaCardio use a variety of diagnostic studies to rate your heart attack risk, which may include:

• Cholesterol tests
• Blood sugar checks and other labs that monitor diabetes control
• Regular blood pressure checks
• An echocardiogram to evaluate your heart’s function
• Stress testing
• Cardiac catheterization to identify the health of your coronary arteries

They also carefully evaluate your family history to check for problems with elevated cholesterol, early cardiac death, or other factors that may indicate a genetic risk for heart attacks.

Can medications prevent heart attacks?

Conditions such as significantly elevated cholesterol or out-of-control diabetes that won’t respond to diet and lifestyle changes usually require medication. Tight control of these medical conditions with medication helps reduce your risk of heart disease and heart attack.

Heart attack prevention typically requires a combination of therapies and lifestyle modifications, and the specialists at AdvaCardio can help design the best strategy for your circumstance.