The cardiovascular system is at the helm of ensuring life for human beings. Its major role is to ensure blood flow to all body parts. However, the system may develop functional and structural problems. There are risk factors predisposing individuals to such circulatory problems. They include:

Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Lifestyle diseases. Diseases like diabetes and obesity predispose someone to cardiovascular diseases. For instance, obesity, hypertension and heart diseases are all obvious that they occur concurrently in any person. One of the diseases is a risk factor for the others.

Lifestyle habits. Smoking, excessive intake of alcohol and physical inactivity aren’t only risk factors for heart diseases, but also for the blood vessel diseases and diabetes. For this reason, individuals who don’t do physical exercises are at an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the diet can be another risk factor if not well considered. Eating a diet rich in salts can promote fluid retention, hence high blood pressure. On the same line, diets rich in cholesterol can precipitate, leave alone causing plaque deposition, something that causes atherosclerosis resulting in coronary artery disease among other cardiovascular diseases.

1. In normal daily living, there are many factors that can stress individuals. However, if one fails to adopt ways of controlling it, then he or she will be at a risk of not only suffering from cardiovascular diseases, but also diabetes and so many others.

Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Age and sex. An increase in the age predisposes an individual to a heart disease. In addition, men have an increased risk of getting a cardiovascular disease when compared to women.

1. Research has found that race is one of the factors that contribute to diseases of the cardiovascular system. For instance, Caucasians are less likely to get such diseases compared to the Mexican Americans, African Americans and American Indians.
2. An individual has a greater chance of developing  a cardiovascular disease if some of the diseases affecting the circulatory system are common in the family. For instance, problems of congenital malformations can flow in the family due to  genetic linkage in addition to other factors like use of drugs.

Medications and drugs. Once a woman is pregnant, the unborn baby is at a risk of developing congenital diseases of the cardiovascular system. That can be true when the pregnant  woman is using drugs that can precipitate congenital malformations. Drugs like thalidomide are associated with congenital anomalies of the preborn baby.

These are just a few risk factors among the many. They vary from one place to place depending on many factors like lifestyle habits among others.