Understanding the Significance of Family Heart Health and Preventive Steps You Can Take

You can’t choose your genetics, so it’s important to be aware of how they can affect your heart health. Fortunately, preventive cardiology gives you tools to manage your heart disease risk factors, no matter what they are.

Here at West Houston Heart Center, many of our patients ask our cardiologist, Humayun Naqvi, MD, MBA, FACC, two important questions: How significant is family heart health when it comes to heart disease risk, and what preventive steps can help me avoid heart disease?

Today’s blog tackles both topics so you can better understand your risks and what you can do about them.

The significance of family heart health

Your family heart health plays a significant role in your risk for heart disease. So, while it’s something you can’t control, it’s something you need to be aware of.

This risk is particularly important to assess when it comes to your first-degree relatives, including your parents, siblings, and children. To a lesser degree, the heart health of your extended relatives may increase your risk of heart disease.

You have a higher risk of developing heart disease if you have one or more first-degree relatives who had it themselves, especially at an early age. For example, one large study showed that a history of premature (before age 50) coronary artery disease in the family increased risk in male participants by 44% over time.

Many other studies also indicate that people can inherit a tendency toward the problems that lead to heart disease, like familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).

This condition, also known as inherited high cholesterol, develops when your body doesn’t process low density lipoproteins (aka “bad” cholesterol) properly. So people who have FH have high cholesterol from birth, and the problem gets worse over time if untreated.

Untreated FH increases your risk of heart disease 20 times, according to the American Heart Association. Discovering this condition and starting FH treatment early can reduce your risk of developing coronary artery disease by a whopping 80%.

Family isn’t the only factor in heart disease. The choices that you make, including your diet, activity level, alcohol intake, and many other factors strongly affect your heart disease risk too.

How preventive cardiology can help

Through preventive cardiology, Dr. Naqvi and our team work closely with you to help you manage your risk factors, both familial and individual.

Preventive cardiology focuses on discovering heart health problems early, before they actually start causing serious health problems. The first all-important step of preventive cardiology is an evaluation. It includes:

Comprehensive family medical history
Detailed personal medical history
Blood pressure checkup
Evaluation of your diet, exercise routine, and weight history
Lab tests to check cholesterol, blood sugar, and other important health metrics
Imaging tests like an echocardiogram
Exercise (stress) electrocardiogram (EKG)
Vascular ultrasound to assess blood vessel health and function

Dr. Naqvi may ask you to wear a monitor of some type, like a fitness tracker or a Holter monitor (portable EKG), to check your heart activity over a longer period of time after your appointment.

No matter what your evaluation shows, preventive cardiology gives you the tools to manage your risks and prevent serious heart health problems.

Dr. Naqvi and our team can help with diet changes, exercise, medication, and, where necessary, minimally invasive procedures focused on getting you to a good place and maximizing your heart health.

To start on the path to your best heart health, call West Houston Heart Center in Houston, Texas, or contact us online today.