Which of the following is a controllable risk factor for heart disease?

• A. Smoking
• B. Race
• C. Age
• D. Gender

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that some heart disease risks can be changed with actions, while others cannot. Smoking is a controllable risk factor because a person can choose to quit or avoid tobacco, and that choice lowers heart-disease risk over time. When you stop smoking, you reduce blood pressure and heart rate surges, improve oxygen delivery to tissues, and lessen damage to blood vessels and the formation of harmful plaques and clots. Even exposure to secondhand smoke is harmful, so reducing or eliminating that exposure also helps. In contrast, race, age, and gender are fixed characteristics you can’t change, so they aren’t controllable risk factors. That makes smoking the best answer.