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Risk factors of Chest Pain

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They are the risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis:

Age (the incidence of an infarction is multiplied by five between 40 and 60 years)

Elevated levels of lipids in the blood (especially cholesterol)

Hypertension

Diabetes

Smoking

Physical inactivity

Obesity, especially abdominal obesity (abdominal circumference more than 88cm in women, and more that 102 cm in men).

Risk factors depending on the disease

Acute coronary syndrome. The risk factors are male gender age greater than 50 years, family history, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, smoking, cocaine use.

Aortic dissection. To suffer hereditary connective tissue diseases or other diseases that weaken the aortic artery wall, advanced age, and hypertension. There is also an increased risk on having been subjected to heart surgery or catheterization. The dissection can be present in younger patients of less than 40 years when they have a connective tissue disease, called Marfan’s disease.

Pulmonary embolism. The factors that increase the risk of deep venous thrombosis of the legs are prolonged immobility (long journey, surgery), as well as those that increase the capacity for the blood to clot such as, pregnancy, cancer, chronic heart disease, the use of oral contraceptives, certain drugs that are used for the treatment of cancer (chemotherapy), or familial diseases that increase the clotting ability of the blood.

Pneumothorax. Smoking and activities like scuba diving can precipitate a pneumothorax. Aeroplane journeys can also favour the recurrence of a pneumothorax that is not completely cured.