Heart Health Risk Factors

How much do you know about heart disease? Pick the true or false next to each answer.

• Being more than 30 pounds overweight puts you at a greater risk for heart attack. (True / False) 
  
• One year after you quit smoking, your risk of a heart attack will be no greater than if you had never smoked. (True / False) 
  
• Burning at least 2,300 calories per week through exercise can help prevent heart disease. (True / False)
  
• Eating a diet high in animal fat increase your risk of getting heart disease. (True / False)
  
• Having your family physician check your blood pressure periodically will help you keep it under control. (True / False)

All answers are true. However, even if you take a good care of your heart, you can still run into problems. When a patient suffered a fatal heart attack a week after having an EKG, his survivors sued for medical negligence. They won a verdict when their attorney proved that the doctor and the medical center failed to disclose that testing showed the patient had had cardiovascular problems and a mild heart attack.