Every year over 1.2 million people suffer from heart attack due to coronary heart disease. The probability that a person may die from heart attack is 40 out of 100. According to the latest estimations, more than 335,000 of these heart attack patients are estimated to die even before reaching the hospital or in the emergency ward of the hospital. In the United States alone, more than 7 million people have had a heart attack at least once in their lifetime. This data comes from the American Heart Association which monitors heart disease in the United States. Heart disease has become very common nowadays due to changes in lifestyle. The fact that heart disease does not manifest its symptoms until it strikes, calls for extra care on the patients part.

There are many factors that are responsible for development of heart disease. Some of these factors can be controlled whereas others cannot be controlled. The factors that can be controlled are linked with the lifestyle and making suitable changes to one’s lifestyle reduce his/her chances of getting heart disease. Some of the controllable factors are:

Smoking: Smoking is known to increase the risk of heart disease. In fact, smokers are at two times more risk of getting of heart attack than non-smokers. The probability of heart attack being fatal is more in active smokers. It is better to never start smoking at all in first place than trying to quit smoking after being addicted to it. Quitting smoking helps reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
Diet: Increased consumption of fats through the diet is known to increase the risk of heart disease. Reducing consumption of fats reduces heart disease. Junk foods should be avoided at all costs.
Blood pressure: Lowering blood pressure helps in reducing the risk of a heart attack. Blood pressure can be controlled by avoiding excessive sodium in the diet, avoiding stress and by relaxing.
Obesity: Obesity is one of the leading causes for heart disease. Obesity can be controlled by avoiding junk foods and by proper exercise.
Sugar levels: Diabetics should take extra care to control their blood sugar levels. Higher blood sugar levels are known to increase the risk of heart disease.
Stress and anger: Stress and anger increase ones chances of heart disease. They should be avoided.
Uncontrollable factors are the ones that are beyond our reach. These include:

Sex: Males are more prone to heart disease.
Age: Older people are more susceptible to heart disease.
Heredity: People who have a family history of heart disease run a higher risk of getting heart disease.
Menopause: The risk of heart attack increases in women in the post-menopausal period.
Ethnicity or race: The incidence of heart disease in certain races is more when compared with others. For example, American Africans and Mexican Americans stand a higher incidence rate of heart disease when compared with Caucasians.
Lifestyle change can significantly prevent heart disease. While it cannot be said with confidence that lifestyle changes can stop heart disease, it is clear that certain lifestyle changes do improve health in other ways. Many of the risk factors are interlinked to each other and making changes that decreases a particular risk factor may also decrease other related risk factors. Heart disease may be effectively controlled this way.