Your Heart Health & Your Family

If you want to cut down on your chances of having a heart attack, look no further than you own family.

Have you heard the saying, “an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?” That means things happen in families, and when it comes to heart problems, that’s definitely true.

Many things go into the "great" equation of life that determines whether you’re going to end up with heart disease. Among those are your diet, whether you smoke and your blood pressure. These are things you can change for the better. But one of the ones you can’t change—your genetics or family history—can have an even bigger influence.

Trying to figure out who is going to have a heart attack before it happens is tough, but there is one big thing you can do to help yourself out---look at how your family members are doing.

Looking closely at "their" health can have a huge impact on "your" health. As a matter of fact, experts predict that if all middle aged adults who have a family history of heart disease were tested themselves, then up to 40% of premature heart attacks could be avoided.

What this essentially tells us is that if a family member has a heart attack, then other family members are at a higher risk themselves. And the closer they are to you, the greater your chance. That means that mother, father, sister and brother have the most impact on your heart health. So, if one of those family members has had a heart problem, then your chances go up even more.