Could you be heading for a heart attack... and not know it?

Heart disease is Britain’s biggest killer. The first step to avoiding it is knowing your risk

EVERY seven minutes, someone in the UK will have a heart attack.

And, each hour,

The reason? Heart and circulatory disease, which doctors now know starts even before middle age.

In fact, research now shows the damage can even begin in childhood, meaning it’s never too early to start investing in your arteries.

Today, we know more than ever about what causes heart disease.

Put simply, the build-up of fat in the arteries – through poor diet and lack of exercise among other things – restricts blood supply to and from the heart, with catastrophic consequences. So what can you do?

As a cardiologist, I believe the prevention is to know your risks.

Some factors are beyond your control – genetics for instance.

address the things that we can do something about.

At 40, everyone is eligible for a free NHS Health Check, which is a heart health MOT that’s carried out by your GP.

During this, heart attack risk is calculated using information such as age, weight, levels of cholesterol – a type of fat in the blood that can lead to blocked arteries – blood pressure, family history and whether you’re a smoker.

If GPs discover a worrying result, lifestyle advice to reduce the risk can be given, or even, possibly, medication.

Heart disease often causes no symptoms. You can feel absolutely pressure, high cholesterol and raised blood sugar – all of which can damage heart health without you knowing, until its too late.

That’s why going for your Health Check is important.

So, what are the main risk factors – and what can be done about them?

RISK RISES WITH AGE

die of heart disease are over 65.

lifestyle, alongside genetic predisposition, accumulates over time, leading to a build up of cholesterol and plaque in the arteries.

begins to mount in middle age – at 45 for men and 55 for women.

So it’s important to start making healthy choices as soon as possible.

IT’S NOT JUST MEN WHO SUFFER

IT is a common misconception heart disease. In fact, 35,000 women are admitted to hospital following a heart attack in the UK each year – an average of 98 women a day, or four per hour

Heart disease kills twice as many women as breast cancer. This may be partly due to a lack of awareness of the symptoms of heart disease in women.

Unlike men, who feel a dull pain in the chest or in the jaw, women often describe feeling fatigued and sleepless, and they experience a sensation of indigestion in the weeks and months before a heart attack – although the commonest symptom for both men and women is chest pain.