Maintaining a healthy weight is not the only factor to consider to prevent heart attack risk.

Normal-weight patients diagnosed with a cluster of factors known as the “metabolic syndrome” could face a higher risk for heart failure than even obese patients without such factors, new research suggests.

Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of symptoms — increased blood pressure, higher-than-normal insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist, high triglycerides and/or abnormal cholesterol levels — that raise the risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes.

Thin does not equal healthy.

There are a multitude of factors to consider when assessing one’s health and wellness.

Those at risk for heart attack might surprise you.

For people with genetic risk factors and a family history of heart disease, a “healthy” lifestyle may not be enough.

Aggressive dietary and exercise changes and early screening for signs of illness are a must.

Dr. Dean Ornish, who has researched the relationship between lifestyle and health, says even the most malignant family history can be overcome.
“I don’t think anyone is doomed to have heart disease,” said Ornish, founder and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute.
“You know, even if your mother and your father and your sister and your brother all die from heart disease it doesn’t mean you need ever to die from it,” he added. “It just means you need to make bigger changes in your life than someone else who doesn’t have those kinds of genes.”