Heart disease and diseases of the circulatory system are responsible for 1 in every 3 deaths in the UK, account for 233,000 fatalities each year. The saddest thing about this is that a huge majority of these deaths are preventable, all that is needed is a small lifestyle change. Although some people will be at a higher risk of heart disease due to genetics, looking after your diet and practicing correct lifestyle patterns can still stack the odds of beating it heavily in your favour. You just need to know what the main risk factors are and what you can do to beat them.

You probably won't be too surprised to know that if you're a man you already have a higher chance of dying young due to heart disease. For women the increase risk usually comes in much later - prominantly once 'the change' has occurred. Nevertheless the point is not whether you are a man or woman - though that does obviously affect your heart disease risks. The issue is more of the increase in heart disease risk in relation the increase in the amount of years you have been alive. The longer you have been around on this planet the shorter your chances of getting heart problems become. This is because many of the other risk factors increase with age - risk that you will need to be aware of.

If you're a smoker then heart disease is just one of many serious illnesses that you increase your risk the chances of getting. The rest of the illnesses and conditions are a subject all on their own so for now we will just focus on heart disease. Want to double your chances of heart disease? Well it's easy - just smoke 20 fags a day. Done. Increase the fag quota and increase the chances even more. Like aging, smoking is a serious health hazard. The difference is you can do something about one of them.

High blood pressure is almost like the silent killer of the heart disease world. You can appear to be and feel very healthy yet still have high blood pressure. Obviously if you are stressed or overweight then the chances of you having high blood pressure increase. However the only way to know you have actually got it is to check it. As you get older BP check become more and more necessary. It doesn't take much to get a regular check with your doctor, and it could literally be the difference between life and death.

Paid much attention to your diet recently? If you eat an unhealthy diet not only do you risk being over weight, you also risk having high cholesterol levels in your blood. Especially if you're partial to dairy products such as full cream milk, butter, cheese and eggs. The fact is if you have a particularly high cholesterol level you treble your chances of heart disease. Next time you're reaching for the full fat milk you might want to go for the skimmed instead.

As with most health issues the risks can be reduced by a little bit of exercise in the daily routine. It gets you fitter, it gets your heart fitter, and it keeps the weight off. The truth is if you are overweight and/or unfit then the chances of you having higher BP and cholesterol levels increase. It basically means you straight away increase the risk of heart disease. As they say prevention is usually better than cure. A little exercise in your life can go a long way to keep heart disease away.

A heart risk that carries more controversy than other risks is that of stress - mainly because scientists disagree as to its significance. Certainly stress alone is much less of a risk factor than smoking or cholesterol for example. However there is evidence which suggests that continual stress can lead to high blood pressure - see where we're going with this? If you already have heart problems stress can be an even more serious factor. Sudden stressful events can be a spark to serious consequences in someone already suffering from coronary heart disease.