Ask the doctor
Q.Is it possible to have heart problems, even if you live a healthy lifestyle? Or to avoid heart problems, even if you don’t live a healthy lifestyle?
A. Life contains no guarantees: yes, even if you live a healthy lifestyle you still can develop heart problems — particularly if you have been born with “bad” genes that make you vulnerable to heart disease.
But, even then, a healthy lifestyle lowers your risk of heart problems. And, yes, there are people who live to a hundred without heart disease, despite an unhealthy lifestyle. Most likely, they had the luck to be born with “good” genes that protect them from heart disease.
Since we don’t yet know what all the “good” and “bad” genes are, nor how to change them, you need to do what you can to improve your odds: maintain that healthy lifestyle.
— by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D.
Editor in Chief, Harvard Health Letter
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