Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – There are many risk factors for heart disease. However, there are also ways to prevent yourself from catching it.

As a man, you start becoming at risk of heart disease between ages forty-five and forty-seven. For women however the age of risk starts at fifty-five. Despite the age gap, for both men and women there are ways to prevent heart disease.

Brad Robinson, Director of Cardiovascular Services at Memorial Health, spoke on the WTAX Morning Newswatch about the risk factors and some preventative measures to avoid that terrifying diagnosis.

“Risk factors you know, there are some that are controllable and some that are not controllable. Non controllable factors would of course be your age; family history certainly plays a role into that,” said Robinson. “There are several controllable factors you can take into account. One you got to quit smoking. You have to monitor and take care of your high blood pressure if your so endowed. High cholesterol or your triglycerides if you got diabetes, you certainly have to keep your weight under control.”

Another way to prevent heart disease, being that the heart is a muscle, is to exercise. Living a sedentary lifestyle can help your heart weaken, making it more susceptible to heart disease.

A heart healthy diet is also another way to prevent heart disease.

“Diet is a struggle for many of us and certainly trying to adopt a heart healthy diet. Something that’s low in saturated fats, watching the salt intake and sugars.” Robinson said.

When it comes to exercise, a good question is how often should I be exercising and for how long?

To answer that question Robinson recommended, “You want to aim for at least one hundred fifty minutes of moderate exercise weekly.”

When it comes to Smokers, Robinsons acknowledges that most people factor smoking into lung disease, not heart disease. However, “If you’re smoking, please quit, and try to avoid secondhand smoke,” Robinson stated. “If you take a look back, historically it was very common if you look at a lot of the Hollywood actors, many of them were passing away at forty-seven or forty-eight, and really the contributing factor was they smoked a lot back then. Smoking is one of the number one contributors to coronary artery disease which then is a contributing factor to heart disease.”