Heredity

How can heredity affect your health?

Maybe you inherited your eyes, your hair color, or your smile from your parents. lt’s possible you also inherited the risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

Heredity can affect the following conditions:

High cholesterol- some familias have a genetic condition that raises blood cholesterol or triglyceride levels. A cholesterol test measures the amount of cholesterol, triglycerides, and other fatty substances in your blood. High cholesterol and triglyceride levels can increase your chances of heart attack or stroke.
High blood pressure or diabetes- high blood pressure and diabetes can also run in familias. Both conditions increase your chances of developing heart or blood vessel disease.
Heart attack- if your brother, father, or grandfather had a heart attack before age 55-or your sister, mother, or grandmother had one before age 65-you may be at risk, too.
Stroke-your risk of stroke is higher if a parent, grandparent, sister, or brother had a stroke.

What you can do

First of all, ask your older relativas about the health history of your immediate family. For example, ask about your grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles. lt’s important to have the right information. Share your family medical history with your doctor, who can then decide the best treatment for you.

Most people with a family history of heart and blood vessel disease have at least one other risk factor. Often it’s a risk factor they can change. You can’t change your age, gender, or genetic makeup. But you can modify the following:

• Your cholesterol level
• What you eat
• How often you exercise
• Whether you smoke
• How you deal with stress
• How much you weigh

Don’t discount the impact that lifestyle factors can have on your health. According to the National lnstitutes of Health, a healthy lifestyle can help lower your heart disease risk by 82%. The Risk Factors section has more information about these lifestyle factors- look under Things You Can Change.