99% patients had at least one major risk factor before first heart attack

Heart attack, stroke, or heart failure come with warning signs in 99% cases, according to a large study that refuted the notion that these devastating events often strike people without warning signs.
The study led by Northwestern Medicine, US, and Yonsei University in South Korea, showed people with these deadly cardiovascular diseases-which remain the leading cause of death worldwide had at least one risk factor above an optimal level beforehand.
“We think the study shows very convincingly that exposure to one or more nonoptimal risk factors before these cardiovascular outcomes is nearly 100%,” said senior author Dr. Philip Greenland, professor of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “The goal now is to work harder on finding ways to control these modifiable risk factors rather than to get off track in pursuing other factors that are not easily treatable and not causal,” Greenland added.
The team selected 4 major cardiovascular risk factors: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and tobacco use. The scientists analysed health data from more than 9.3 million Korean adults and nearly 7,000 US adults, who were followed for up to 2 decades.
The findings showed that more than 99% of people who developed coronary heart disease, heart failure, or stroke had at least one nonoptimal risk factor before their event.
Over 93% had two or more risk factors. High blood pressure, or hypertension, was the most common culprit, affecting over 95% of patients in South Korea and more than 93% in the US.
Even in women still had at least one nonoptimal factor before heart failure or stroke. (IANS)