Is heart disease linked to age or gender? The answer is YES. The person’s risk of developing a heart attack increases significantly with age.

Studies indicate that more than 80% of the people who die of heart disease are 60 years of age or older.

Men have a greater risk of developing a heart attack earlier in life, while women are more susceptible to heart attack after menopause due to diminished levels of oestrogen.

Oestrogen is known to raise good HDL cholesterol, thus protecting a woman early in life. However the positive effects of oestrogen are negated if a woman is overweight, suffers from diabetes or has elevated cholesterol.

Also diet plays a part in the development of heart diseases. Every choice people (we) make today will impact them the next day, week, months, years or decades to come tomorrow.Our diet plays a significant role in prevention or production of heart diseases. Diets high in artificial processed fats, low in fresh vegetables and fruit, and high in alcohol put people at the greatest risk of heart disease.

In order to help your blood pressure under control and therefore lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, limit the amount of salt you consume. As much as 75% of the salt in the average diet comes from processed foods-everything from bacon to soups and salad dressing. Choose foods without added salt and prepare home-cooked food with little or no salt. All natural food items such as fruits vegetables, fish and lean meats have very little salt.

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