HeartsNParks Community Mobilization Guide - National Heart, Lung ...

R ISK F ACTORS F OR H EART D ISEASE
High Blood Cholesterol
High blood cholesterol plays an important part in deciding a person’s chance or risk of getting coronary
heart disease. The higher your blood cholesterol, the greater your risk. When you have too much
cholesterol in your blood, the excess builds up on the walls of the arteries that carry blood to the heart.
This buildup is called “atherosclerosis,” or “hardening of the arteries.” It narrows the arteries and can
slow down or block blood flow to the heart. With less blood, the heart gets less oxygen. Without enough
oxygen to the heart, there may be chest pain (“angina” or “angina pectoris”), heart attack (“myocardial
infarction”), or death. Cholesterol buildup is the most common cause of heart disease, but it happens
so slowly that people are not aware of it. Blood cholesterol level is influenced by many factors.
These include:
■ Diet ■ Level of physical activity ■ Age
■ Weight ■ Heredity ■ Gender
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a risk factor for heart and kidney diseases and stroke.
Blood is carried from the heart to all of the body’s tissues and organs in vessels called arteries. Blood
pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of arteries. Each time the heart beats (about
60–70 times a minute at rest), it pumps blood into the arteries. Some people have blood pressure that
stays high all or most of the time. Their blood pushes against the walls of their arteries with higher-thannormal
force. If untreated, this can lead to serious medical problems like atherosclerosis, heart attack,
enlarged heart, kidney damage, and stroke. High blood pressure is influenced by several
factors. These include:
■ Diet ■ Physical activity ■ Family history
■ Weight ■ Alcohol consumption ■ Ethnicity
Diabetes
Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism—the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy.
Most of the food we eat is broken down into a simple sugar called glucose, which is the main source
of fuel for the body. For the glucose to get into the body’s cells, insulin must be present. In people with
diabetes the body produces little or no insulin, or the cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced.
As a result, glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the
body. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel, even though the blood contains large amounts of
glucose.
Diabetes is widely recognized as one of the leading causes of death and disability in the
United States. Diabetes is associated with long-term complications that affect almost every
major organ of the body. It contributes to blindness, heart disease, strokes, kidney failure,
amputations, and nerve damage. Diabetes is not contagious. People cannot catch it from each
other. However, certain factors can increase one’s risk of developing diabetes. People at risk for
diabetes include:
■ Those with family members who have diabetes (especially type 2 diabetes)
■ Those who are overweight
■ Those who are African American, Hispanic, or Native American
Overweight and Obesity
Over the past four decades, the number of overweight children, adolescents, and adults has
risen. In 1998, a little over one-half of all American adults (about 97 million) and one in five children
over the age of 6 were considered overweight or obese, levels unmatched in our nation’s
history. In 1995, the costs attributed to obesity alone amounted to an estimated $99 billion.
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