Risk factors for cardiovascular disease are particular habits, behaviors, circumstances or conditions that increase a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including lack of exercise, unhealthy eating, smoking, diabetes, age and family history.

Cardiovascular disease is a broad, umbrella term used to describe all conditions affecting the heart and circulatory system, including coronary heart disease, stroke, heart attack and aortic disease. Controllable risk factors include High LDL, or bad" cholesterol, and low HDL, or good" cholesterol. Possessing one or more risk factors increases a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease; it does not, however, mean that cardiovascular disease is an inevitability.

If you think that you might have signs of cardiovascular disease, you may want to consider taking some of our tests. These tests assist in measuring risk factors for a patient, and can inform treatment or lifestyle choices, to ensure you reduce your risk factors as much as possible.