Chest Pain

If the chest pain is intermittent but without a consistent relationship to exertion or emotional stress, heart disease could still be the cause. The younger you are and the fewer number of cardiac risk factors, the less likely it is that the chest pain is heart related.

Risk factors for coronary heart disease include

• tobacco use

• family history of heart attack or angina at an early age

• abnormal cholesterol levels, especially a high LDL (bad) cholesterol and a low HDL (good) cholesterol

• diabetes or pre-diabetes

• high blood pressure.

Age and smoking history is a good place to start. Which category are you in?

  Under age 30

  Age 30 to 39, non-smoker

  Age 30 to 39, smoker

  Age 40 or older