Understanding the Significance of Family Heart Health and Preventive Steps You Can Take

The last thing you want to hear is that your heart is in trouble. Unfortunately, heart disease is a reality for millions of Americans. Here are the stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack (805,000 yearly)
• Someone dies every 33 seconds from heart disease (695,000 in 2021 alone)
• One out of five heart attacks goes unnoticed, causing severe heart damage

We’re committed to lowering these shocking statistics.

At Macomb Medical Clinic in Macomb, Michigan, Dr. Mark Rosenberg and Dr. Arthur Lieberman are passionate about preventive medicine and want to help you avoid severe heart conditions. That starts with a deep dive into your family medical history and a careful evaluation of your heart health.

Why your family’s heart health matters

We can't stress enough how important your family's heart health is. While it's not something you can control, it's something you can, and should, monitor.

When assessing your risk, look at your immediate family — parents, siblings, and kids. Even distant relatives' heart health can increase your chances of getting heart disease.

If you've got one or more first-degree relatives who’ve had heart disease, especially at a young age, your own risk goes up.

Studies show that a family history of early-onset coronary artery disease increases the long-term risk by 44% in men.

Inherited factors, like familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), can make things worse. This condition, often known as inherited high cholesterol, happens when your body can’t properly deal with low-density lipoproteins (aka “bad” cholesterol). People with FH have high cholesterol from birth, and if they don’t get treatment, it worsens over time.

According to the American Heart Association, untreated FH can increase your heart disease risk up to 20 times. Catching this condition early and treating it can cut your chances of getting coronary artery disease by an impressive 80%.

While family history is important, so are your lifestyle choices. What you eat, how active you are, how much alcohol you drink, and other factors all come into play.

You can prevent heart disease

Our Macomb Medical Clinic team can help you manage your family and personal risk factors. We focus on early detection, aiming to spot and deal with heart health issues before they become major problems. 

The first step is a thorough evaluation, assessing your family and personal medical history, blood pressure, diet, exercise routine, and weight history. We also evaluate your cholesterol, blood sugar, and other key health indicators. 

Call Macomb Medical Clinic to schedule a cardiac screening appointment with our experts and put your mind at ease.