Heart problems like heart attacks, heart failure, and stroke are the top causes of death around the world. According to the World Health Organization, about 85% of all deaths from heart disease are due to heart attacks and strokes, and over 64 million people globally live with heart failure. We already know that changing your lifestyle like stopping smoking, losing weight, lowering cholesterol, eating better, and being active, can lower your risk. Now, a major new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, confirms how important key health factors are: it found that more than 99% of people who had a heart attack, heart failure, or stroke had at least one of four major risk factors at unhealthy levels before the event happened. What Are The Main Reasons For Heart Diseases? Researchers looked at medical information over up to 20 years from over 9 million adults in South Korea and nearly 7,000 adults in the United States. This long look allowed them to track people's numbers for blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar (glucose), and smoking before they had their first heart issue. The goal was to prove that these common, fixable risk factors really are present in people who get heart disease. The researchers said their work suggests that some earlier studies missed these problems because they didn't look at long-term health records. The study focused on these four "major" risks. They used standard definitions for what's considered not healthy:High Blood Pressure: A reading of 120/80 or higher, or taking medicine for blood pressure. High Blood Sugar (Glucose): A sugar reading of 100 or higher after fasting, or having diabetes, or taking diabetes medicine. Tobacco Use: Smoking or having smoked in the past. High Cholesterol: Total cholesterol of 200 or higher, or taking medicine for cholesterol.The experts stressed that since we can change these factors, they offer a real chance to prevent heart disease. What Was The Most Common Cause Of Heart Attack? The results were extremely clear: more than 99% of people in the study had at least one unhealthy risk factor before their heart failure, stroke, or heart attack. Out of the four main risks, high blood pressure was the most frequent problem. It affected over 95% of the South Korean group and over 93% of the U.S. group. The study pointed out that this is important because high blood pressure is easy to find with a simple check, but it's often missed because it doesn't cause symptoms. He said the study proves how vital it is to check for and treat high blood pressure. Even in women under 60, who are usually considered lower risk, more than 95% still had at least one unhealthy risk factor before their heart problem. Why Is It Important To Highlight Heart Disease Risks? The study confirms what doctors have known for a long time: one, or often more, of these fixable risk factors are always in the background before a major heart issue occurs. The researchers advise that people should make sure these four factors are checked at every doctor's visit. If any number is even slightly high, efforts must be made to treat it to prevent a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure. They said the next step is simply to "do a better job of putting what we already know into practice." Other health experts also agree, saying the study shows we need to focus on checking for and managing the risk factors to reduce the huge problem of heart disease in society.
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