What Increases Your Risk

Heart failure is usually caused by another health problem, often coronary artery disease or high blood pressure. So anything that increases your risk for one of those problems also increases your risk for heart failure.

• Risk factors for coronary artery disease and heart attack include smoking, having high cholesterol or diabetes, and having a family history of heart disease.
• Risk factors for high blood pressure include being overweight, being inactive, and having a family history of high blood pressure.
• Risk factors for heart valve disease include older age and an infection of the valves.

The number of people who have heart failure is growing. Two of the reasons for this growth are that people in general are living longer and people who already have heart failure are also living longer. The risk of heart failure rises as a person gets older. So more and more people are expected to have heart failure as the population gets older.