The human body contains about 60,000 miles of blood vessels, and though they’re all important, none are more so than your aorta, which is the main blood vessel that carries blood from your heart. So, when there’s an issue in this blood vessel, such as an aortic aneurysm, you want to know about it.
Unfortunately, for many people with an aortic aneurysm — the condition affects about 5 to 10 people out of every 100,000 — there are no warning signs of a problem until something serious happens, namely, the blood vessel bursts and you bleed internally.
At Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists, our experienced and skilled team believes that prevention is the best way to navigate your heart health. With that in mind, we want to review risk factors for an aortic aneurysm so that we can take preventive action.
With an aortic aneurysm, there’s a weakness and bulge in the aortic wall. Your aorta is a large blood vessel that provides passage for all of the blood from your heart to your body.
The aneurysm can develop in one of two areas — your abdomen or in your chest (thoracic area) — and abdominal aortic aneurysms are more common.
Wherever it's located, the weakness usually develops without any outward signs and can continue to grow until the blood vessel bursts, which can lead to life-threatening internal bleeding.
As with many health conditions, knowledge is power, and when we know there's a potential problem, we can monitor the situation more closely and step in to avoid serious complications. And this definitely applies to an aortic aneurysm.
Primary risk factors for an aortic aneurysm can include:
Aortic aneurysms are progressive and are primarily found in people over age 65.
Your family tree can increase your risks for an aortic aneurysm — you have a one in five chance of developing an abdominal aortic aneurysm if you have an immediate relative with the condition.
Men get the short end of the stick when it comes to aortic aneurysms — they’re four to six times more common in men than women.
If you have a history of smoking, please know that this is a primary risk factor for an aortic aneurysm.
Many health conditions can increase your risk of an aortic aneurysm, including:
Other health conditions can be included on this list, but the above are among the more common.
If you can check any of the risk factors we list above, it’s a good idea to come see us for a screening.
If we find that you have an aortic aneurysm, we assess the size of the bulge to determine next steps, which can include:
If we see that your aneurysm is growing rapidly and becoming more of a threat, we can take evasive action with one of two procedures:
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s walk this back to evaluating your risks for an aortic aneurysm, which is best done with an in-office visit. To get that ball rolling, please contact our office in Mountain View, California, to schedule an appointment.
