Take the Heart Health Test

Heart attack deaths fell 28 percent between 1997 and 2007. Still, more than 80 million Americans suffer from cardiovascular diseases linked with heart attacks and strokes, according to the AHA.

Many women don't realize how much risk they face when it comes to heart disease, the NHLBI says. Men's risk rises after age 40, and women's risk rises about 10 years later, after menopause. Though more men have heart disease, women are more likely to die from a first heart attack. The average 50-year-old woman is three times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than breast cancer, the NHLBI says.

The link between mind and body is getting clearer. Studies following Japanese earthquakes, for instance, found heart attacks caused more deaths than injuries during and just after tremors. Other studies indicate that in some stressful situations, blood flow to the heart falls for up to three out of four heart patients.

Doctors recommend that many older adults take a daily low-dose aspirin such as a "baby aspirin" or half of an adult aspirin to help prevent blood clots in coronary arteries. In fact, some experts believe we could save up to 10,000 lives a year if everyone swallowed one regular aspirin at the first sign of a heart attack, after dialing 911. Doctors warn, however, that daily aspirin isn't for everyone—especially people who take blood thinners or are prone to digestive irritation. Ask your doctor. Remember that aspirin and cholesterol-lowering medication are no substitute for lifestyle changes.

The actual stress on the heart is fairly moderate, but check with your doctor for guidance before you resume sexual activity after a heart attack.

Even with all the information available about risk factors such as age, smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, hypertension, diabetes, and family history, many of us deny these factors will affect our life.

If you have one risk factor, you should address it. But in most instances, multiple risk factors do the damage. Nonetheless, addressing only one or two of your risk factors--smoking and obesity, for example--can result in a dramatic improvement in your health and a reduction in your level of cardiac risk.

Many people avoid exercise in the belief that it will do no good unless they perspire heavily and gasp for breath. This is not true. Work on accumulating at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five days a week.

Lives can be saved if people act sooner. If you suffer chest discomfort or shortness of breath, do not wait! Call 911 and get to the nearest emergency room. Extra time increases the chances for death or permanent damage. Medications that break up blood clots can be given quickly at a hospital—possibly saving your life.