Do you have an uncle who always seems short of breath? Did one of your grandparents or parents die at an early age from “heart problems?” If heart failure is in your family tree, you might wonder if its branches extend to you.
Family history does play a part in your risk for heart failure. Genes your parents passed down to you could make you more prone to diseases that damage or weaken your heart. But genes alone don’t doom you to heart failure. How well you take care of your heart health matters, too.
“You can’t help who your parents are…
