Search Media Items

You may have an increased risk for a pleural disorder because of your age, your family history and genetics, your lifestyle habits, medicines you take, other medical conditions, and your sex.

A heart attack happens if the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked and the heart can't get oxygen. Most heart attacks occur as a result of coronary heart disease. A less common cause is a severe spasm of the coronary artery.

Certain risk factors make it more likely that you'll develop coronary heart disease and have a heart attack. Risk factors you can control include smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, overweight and obesity, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, and high blood sugar due to insulin resistance or diabetes. Risk factors you can’t control include age, family history of early heart disease, and preeclampsia.

After a heart attack, you'll need treatment for coronary heart disease to help prevent another heart attack. Your doctor may recommend lifestyle changes, medicines, and a cardiac rehabilitation program.

Risk factors for heart valve disease include older age and a history of infective endocarditis, rheumatic fever, heart attack, or heart failure. You’re also at higher risk for heart valve disease if you have risk factors for coronary heart disease or were born with a certain aortic valve condition.

The main sign of heart valve disease is an unusual heartbeat sound called a heart murmur.

Heart valve disease is a lifelong condition. See your doctor regularly for ongoing care and to determine how this condition may affect pregnancy.

Your doctor will diagnose metabolic syndrome based on the results of a physical exam and blood tests. You must have at least three of the five metabolic risk factors—a large waistline, a high triglyceride level, a low HDL cholesterol level, high blood pressure, and high fasting blood sugar—to be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

Making heart-healthy lifestyle choices is the best way to prevent metabolic syndrome by being physically active, following a heart-healthy eating plan, knowing your weight, waist measurement, and BMI, and maintaining a healthy weight.

Mitral valve prolapse can occur in anyone. However, aging and certain diseases—such as rheumatic fever, connective tissue disorders, Graves’ disease, scoliosis, and some types of muscular dystrophy—can increase the risk of developing the condition.