Risk factors are aspects of your lifestyle and current medical or physical situation that contribute to your chances of developing heart disease.  Some factors cannot be changed, but those that are part of your lifestyle are within your control.  Taking control where you can, could save your life.

Risk factors that cannot be changed:

1. Age -  risk increases with age, in part because of other health problems that tend to occur as we get older and in part due to the lack of estrogen, which protects women before menopause.
2. Family history - risk increases if you have an immediate family member who had heart disease at an early age (younger than 55 years of age for a man and 65 years of age for a woman).
3. Race - more African-American and Hispanic women have multiple risk factors for heart disease than Caucasian women, and they have a higher death rate from heart disease.
4. Gender - women have less risk of heart disease before menopause because estrogen helps keep the "good cholesterol" (HDL's) high; after menopause a woman's risk increases.

Risk factors that you can control:

1. Cigarette smoking - smoking by women in the U.S. causes almost as many deaths from heart disease as from lung cancer.
2. High blood pressure - even a slightly high level doubles the risk of heart disease.
3. High cholesterol - about one-third of American women have cholesterol levels high enough to pose serious heart disease risk.
4. Diabetes - Type 2 diabetes (formerly adult onset) significantly increases a woman's heart disease risk at any age.
5. Obesity - being 20% or more over the desirable body weight increases the likelihood of developing heart disease even if there are no other risk factors
6. Stress - increased stress has a physical impact (higher blood pressure) and sometimes a behavioral impact (a tendency to overeat or drink more alcohol), both of which increase the risk of heart disease.
7. Birth Control Pills - using birth control pills may worsen the effects of other risk factors, such as smoking and high blood pressure.