Men And Heart Disease

By Author: The FH Foundation
Total Articles: 4
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When you think about heart attacks or significant cardiac events, you might associate them with older people who have a history of not taking care of themselves the way they should. However, it may surprise you to know that more and more people are experiencing heart attacks at younger ages and seeing more heart attacks in family members. A young heart attack usually comes from heart disease or genetic conditions that are exasperated by trauma, structural defects and, most commonly, heart disease as a result of high cholesterol. It’s never too early to start monitoring your cholesterol and making lifestyle changes, especially if you are male, as males are more likely to have high cholesterol and heart problems.

Risk Factors Facing Men

Men start experiencing risk factors as young as ten when they start to go through puberty. Throughout these formative, developmental years, men’s high-density lipoproteins (HDL) reduce, which is an early indicator of heart disease. HDL cholesterol is the good, protective kind of cholesterol that is needed in high amounts if it’s to protect your body against the dangerous low-density ...
... lipoproteins (LDL). Women do not experience this fall in HDL cholesterol, which gives them an advantage. Additionally, women are protected, usually until menopause, by the presence of estrogen. It is also worth noting that more men used to smoke than women. This may have contributed to the rise in cardiovascular weakness more typically seen in men, though this has not been the case in recent years.

The Importance of Genetics

Heart attacks in family have a greater chance of occurring if there is a generic predisposition, whether it’s for heart disease or heart attacks before a certain age. In much the same way as many other diseases and conditions, weak hearts can run in family lines as well, especially if you or your family members have something called familial hypercholesterolemia, a condition in which the liver cannot easily process cholesterol. This condition is life-threatening and can affect people at every age. Treatment is usually through lifestyle changes, medication and careful monitoring of progression. Talk to your doctor about your family’s history with heart disease or heart attacks and understand your own risk factors.

Implications for Children

If you’re a male diagnosed with a genetic or high-risk heart condition, you may be asking yourself what this means for your children and if you should even have them because of the implications. In this situation, knowledge is power and knowing what to expect makes a difference. Your children have a fifty percent chance of inheriting if your partner does not have any similar heart conditions. This just means that their cholesterol should be tested early and the condition managed as early as possible. This might mean medication or more regular doctor’s appointments, but there’s no reason to worry about their future health.

What You Should Do

Preventing heart attacks in family members does not have to be daunting task. Get tested and bring the rest of your family in for baseline cholesterol measurements. It’s usually as simple as a blood test and this can tell you everything you need to keep you and your family healthy.