Women should begin to take steps while in their 30s if they want to prevent heart disease later in life.
Risk factors like smoking, elevated cholesterol, and obesity are usually well-established by that age. Obesity, for instance, triples the odds of a heart attack.
Taking care now will leave you plenty of time to get healthy before you get into the high-risk years. In other words, stopping smoking, eating right, losing weight, and exercising now can prevent heart disease as you age.
Early screening, including blood pressure, pulse, waist circumference, and body mass index (BMI) — the amount of weight attributable to fat — should be checked every two years.
Some other factors to consider: Women over 35 who use contraceptive birth control should consider stopping if they have high cholesterol, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a BMI over 30, or a smoking habit. Older oral contraceptives with high doses of estrogen have been shown to create risk factors for heart disease and to increase the chance of blood clots.
Women with histories of irregular menstrual cycles at age 35 have a 50 percent greater chance of eventually having a heart attack, possibly because erratic cycles are frequently linked with obesity. Medication and weight loss can get symptoms under control and should reduce heart risk later in life.