AFAA Personal Trainer Certification Practice Exam

What constitutes a family history risk factor for cardiovascular disease?

1. Myocardial Infarction before age 60

2. Death before age 55 of a father

3. Death before age 65 of a mother

4. Both B and C

The correct answer is: Both B and C

A family history risk factor for cardiovascular disease is determined by certain critical health events in close relatives that can indicate genetic predisposition. When evaluating this context, particularly, the age of onset for cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction or premature death in immediate family members serves as a significant risk factor. In this case, the correct answer includes both the early death of a father before age 55 and the early death of a mother before age 65. These ages are significant thresholds: losing a parent to cardiovascular-related conditions at those ages suggests a higher likelihood that their children may also be at increased risk due to shared genetic or environmental factors. Myocardial infarction occurring before age 60 is an important indicator of risk, but when considering family history as a broader context, both immediate parental deaths before the specified ages carry substantial weight in assessing cardiovascular risk in offspring. This dual perspective emphasizes the importance of chronic health conditions that arise at a relatively young age within family structures, thus further supporting the rationale for including both the death of the father and the mother in the risk assessment, which culminates in the selection of the correct answer.