How Can I Check Underlying Health Conditions And Risk Factors?
How Can I Check Underlying Health Conditions And Risk Factors?
- Early intervention through simple genetic testing
- Can alcohol cause heart attack?
- Can anxiety cause heart attack or stroke?
- Can depression cause heart attack?
- Can diabetes cause heart attack?
- Can high BP cause heart attack?
- Can low blood pressure cause heart attack?
- Can panic attack cause heart attack?
- Can stress cause heart attack?
- How to learn about underlying health conditions and risk factors?
- Quick summary of genetic testing for risk of heart attacks
Introduction
The World Health Organisation states that 80% of heart attacks and strokes are preventable[1]. However, due to lack of information about health conditions and risk factors most people do not follow preventive health care. This is the main reason for high incidence of heart attacks and strokes.
Patients at risk of heart attack, who do not receive timely and right treatment are likely to end up as fatalities. Globally, cardiovascular disease accounts for most health related deaths. The good news is the convergence of technology and diagnostic medical science. This makes it possible for you to check for health risks through genetic testing methods. These options offer you a clear look at possible health risks.
Early intervention through simple genetic testing
Contrary to perceptions about genetic testing for risk of diseases, the procedure is simple and uncomplicated. The benefits include identification of conditions that put you at high risk of heart attacks. This allows early intervention and tailored treatment plans to help you deal with the conditions. Here are answers to common questions about heart attack and the link to health conditions and risk factors.
Can alcohol cause heart attack?
Yes, alcohol is known to contribute to your risk of heart attack. This is due to the adverse effects of excessive alcohol consumption, listed below:
- Hypertension – A serious risk factor, hypertension causes damage to the arteries, and this increases the risk of heart attacks.
- Cardiomyopathy – This causes the heart muscle to weaken, affecting pumping of blood. The risk of heart failure and heart attacks increase with this condition.
- Arrhythmias – This refers to irregular heartbeats and a particular arrhythmia is linked to increased risk of blood clots. This is a serious risk factor for heart attacks.
- Triglycerides – Increased levels of triglyceride causes buildup of plaque in the arteries. This can cause atherosclerosis, a major risk factor for heart attacks. This affects health conditions and risk factors are amplified.
- Obesity – The intake of calories causes weight gain and possible obesity. These are risk factors for heart attacks.
Can anxiety cause heart attack or stroke?
Yes, anxiety can indirectly increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. However, this is mostly when anxiety is chronic in nature. Acute anxiety can mimic the symptoms of heart attack, and may confuse a person into assuming that it is a heart attack.
However, these symptoms can contribute to the risk of attacks, especially in patients with existing health conditions and risk factors. Are you unaware of existing health conditions? Simple genetic testing is all that is required to clear apprehensions.
Effects of anxiety on the body include:
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure – Anxiety causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and these are risk factors for heart attack and stroke.
- Increase levels of stress hormones – Levels of cortisol and adrenaline increase, causing possible inflammation and damage to blood vessels. This happens over a period of time, increasing risk of cardiovascular diseases.
- Lack of adequate sleep – Anxiety causes disturbed sleep and this is linked to risk of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
- Acute anxiety – Episodes of anxiety can increase stress on the heart. This can increase risk of heart conditions, especially in patients with existing issues.
- Chronic anxiety – People with chronic anxiety disorders are at a higher risk of ending up with coronary artery disease.
- Blood Pressure, a major factor for stroke – Chronic anxiety can cause hypertension, a major risk factor for stroke, due to damaged blood vessels in the brain.
- Atherosclerosis and increased risk of stroke – Stress from anxiety can speed up the process of atherosclerosis, increasing risk of stroke.
Can depression cause heart attack?
Yes, depression can contribute to increased risk of heart attack. This is mainly through the physiological effects of depression, affecting health conditions and risk factors listed below:
- Inflammation – Chronic inflammation can contribute to atherosclerosis increasing risk of heart attack.
- Autonomic nervous system imbalance – The disruption of the balance of the autonomic nervous system, can elevate heart rate and blood pressure. These are risk factors for heart disease.
- Levels of stress hormones – Elevated levels of cortisol can cause damage to the cardiovascular system. This increases risk of heart attacks.
Can diabetes cause heart attack?
Yes, diabetes is linked to an increased risk of heart attacks due to multiple factors that link diabetes with the cardiovascular system.
- Atherosclerosis – High blood sugar levels damage the lining of blood vessels, allowing build-up of fatty deposits. This increases risk of a heart attack.
- High blood pressure levels – Diabetes is linked to hypertension, contributing to the risk of heart disease.
- Dyslipidemia – High cholesterol levels including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides are linked to diabetes. This promotes formation of plaques in the arteries.
- Inflammation and oxidative stress – High levels of blood sugar can damage blood vessels and increase risk of heart attacks.
- Insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction – Insulin resistance can affect the function of the inner lining of blood vessels. This results in increased blood pressure and higher risk of aggravating health conditions and risk factors.
- Obesity – People with type 2 diabetes are mostly known to end up with weight gain. This can aggravate insulin resistance resulting in risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Kidney disease – Diabetes can cause diabetic nephropathy, increasing blood pressure levels higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Peripheral artery disease – Diabetes is linked to peripheral artery disease causing build-up of plaque in the arteries of the legs. This contributes to risk of heart attacks.
- Statistics – Heart-disease is known to be the leading cause of death among diabetics.
Worried about onset of diabetes and risk of heart attacks? Undergo simple tests to check risks, and take suitable remedial measures to eliminate risks.
Can high BP cause heart attack?
It is true that high blood pressure levels are strongly linked to your risk of heart attacks. This is because of various factors that contribute to heart disease and aggravation of cardiovascular disease.
- Damage to arteries – There is damage to the arteries over a period of time, causing thickening and hardening of the arterial walls. This is conducive to buildup of plaques, that obstruct flow of blood to the heart.
- Atherosclerosis – High blood pressure speeds up the development of atherosclerosis, increasing risk of a heart attack.
- Workload on the heart – Due to the increased resistance from high blood pressure, the heart muscles are put through increased or abnormal workloads. This results in thickening of the heart muscle, known as left ventricular hypertrophy. This affects the heart and increases risk of heart attacks, aggravates health conditions and risk factors.
- Clinical Evidence – People with hypertension are more likely to end up with a heart attack than those with controlled blood pressure.
As documented by the WHO, you can prevent the risk of heart attacks with timely diagnosis and treatment. Check for possibility of risks through genetic testing, and adopt a holistic approach towards treatment – medications, lifestyle and diet.
Can low blood pressure cause heart attack?
Low blood pressure is not directly linked to heart attacks, it can indirectly impact conditions that increase your risk. An outline of the reasons are given below:
- Poor flow of blood – Low blood pressure, also known as hypotension can affect flow of blood to the heart. This can, in turn result in myocardial ischemia, that may result in heart attack in rare cases. This is especially in the case of patients with coronary artery disease.
· Postural hypotension – This condition refers to a sudden drop in blood pressure when rising from a resting position. This may indirectly increase the risk of cardiovascular events.
Can panic attack cause heart attack?
Panic attacks are not directly linked to heart attacks. However, symptoms appear similar to that of heart attacks. Listed below are the symptoms of a panic attack that you may sometimes mistake as that of a heart attack.
- Pain the chest – Intense pain in the chest is a symptom that is common to both heart attacks and panic attacks. It is necessary to understand other symptoms to make the distinction.
- Rapid heartbeat – Another symptom of a panic attack, is rapid heart rate, this is also often misunderstood as that of a heart attack.
- Shortness of breath, sweating tremors – Difficulty in breathing, profuse sweating and tremors are also possible symptoms of a panic attack.
- Differences in symptoms – To a certain extent, it is possible to differentiate between the two conditions, by looking closely at the symptoms. Panic attacks are short lived and the person experiences the intensity of pain in a few minutes. Contrastingly, the pain experienced in heart attacks is persistent in nature with no relief.
- Panic attacks are usually experienced following certain triggers, while heart attacks are not caused by external reasons.
Can stress cause heart attack?
Stress contributes to your risk of heart attacks indirectly. Here is a look at the role of stress in contributing to risk of cardiovascular events.
- Sympathetic nervous system – Stress induces release of adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones, in turn cause an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
- Blood pressure levels – Elevated blood pressure levels, increase the strain on the heart and blood vessels. This contributes to the risk of cardiovascular events.
- Impact on immune function – The immune system ends up weakened due to continued stress. This exposes people to infections and inflammatory conditions, increasing risk of cardiovascular events.
- Evidence – Studies have established a link between stress and cardiovascular health risk. This includes the aggravation of existing cardiovascular diseases.
How to learn about underlying health conditions and risk factors?
A simple, convenient and proven option to learn about your risk of heart attacks is genetic testing. This can offer clear insights into risk factors and underlying health conditions and risk factors that are intrinsically linked to heart attacks. Here are important points in support of genetic testing.
- Identification – Genetic testing can clearly identify inherited conditions that will eventually contribute to heart disease. For instance, familial hypercholesterolemia, is known to contribute to high levels of cholesterol.
- Cardiomyopathies – These refers to diseases of the heart muscle, and are known to have genetic angle. Detection of this condition through genetic testing helps manage and reduce the risk of heart attacks.
- Atherosclerosis – This is a major reason for heart attacks and is known to be influence by genetic factors. Identification of individuals at risk of this condition through genetic testing helps in early intervention.
- Disease risk – One of the advantages of genetic testing is the identification of specific gene variants that are linked to heart attacks. For instance, it is possible to identify possible changes in lipid metabolism, blood pressure control, and inflammation from gene variants.
- Polygenic risk scores – This refers to an aggregate score of various gene variants. This helps to clearly assess the genetic risk of an individual developing a heart attack due to one or many reasons. These scores help to categories patients on the basis of risk scores and offer suitable pre-emptive treatment for the identified conditions.
- Impact on lifestyle – Certain genetic factors are known to impact other lifestyle choices. For example, a person on a diet may experience certain outcomes due to the genetic predisposition. Similarly, other lifestyle factors like exercise, smoking, and alcohol may have varied outcomes depending on genetically inherited factors. An understanding of this helps individuals make subtle changes in lifestyle for best outcomes.
- Early intervention – Early identification of conditions and risks help in understanding high risk individuals. This can help roll out necessary early interventions and changes in lifestyle, diet, medications and clinical monitoring as a pre-emptive method.
- Futuristic developments – The pace of developments in genetic testing is impressive and in the not too distant future, it will help in considerably reducing the burden of disease. Greater acceptance among the public, will help in better prevention of heart attacks. A clear advantage of genetic testing is the ability to integrate the findings with electronic health records. This will help healthcare professionals to quickly diagnose and recommend the most effective treatment.
Quick summary of genetic testing for risk of heart attacks
Genetic testing for risk of heart attacks involves the following:
- Sample collection – Your blood or saliva sample is collected to analyze genetic variants.
- Analysis – This is analyzed in a lab through tests such as next-generation sequencing or genotyping. The analysis is to detect genetic variants linked to your risk of heart attacks, like mutations in the LDLR, APOB, or PCSK9 genes.
The following genetic variants are typically assessed – SNPs, Monogenic disorders and Polygenic risk scores. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPS) are common genetic variations that have an impact on your blood pressure, cholesterol, and inflammation. Monogenic disorders refer to specific inherited mutations, like familial hypercholesterolemia.
Medically Reviewed by
Dr.Rajasekar Cardiologist
Dr. Rajasekar is a cardiologist in Chennai, with extensive experience in the field. He completed his MBBS from Madurai Kamaraj University, followed by an MD in General Medicine and a DM in Cardiology from The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University (TNMGRMU).
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Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) from the University of Delhi Experience : Dr. Srinivasan is an experienced pharmacist with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Delhi and over 12 years in the field. She has worked extensively in clinical and community pharmacy settings, focusing on patient care, medication management, and drug safety. Dr. Srinivasan also contributes to health and wellness publications and serves as a consultant for pharmaceutical companies and healthcare organizations. Her expertise spans clinical practice, pharmaceutical writing, and regulatory affairs.