NEW DELHI– Nearly all patients who experienced a first heart attack, stroke, or heart failure had at least one warning sign beforehand, according to a large international study that challenges the belief that such events strike without notice.
The research, led by Northwestern Medicine in the U.S. and Yonsei University in South Korea, found that 99 percent of patients had at least one cardiovascular risk factor above the optimal level prior to their first cardiac event. The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“We think the study shows very convincingly that exposure to one or more nonoptimal risk factors before these cardiovascular outcomes is nearly 100 percent,” 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.”
The study focused on four key risk factors: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and tobacco use. Researchers analyzed health data from more than 9.3 million Korean adults and nearly 7,000 U.S. adults tracked for up to 20 years.
Results showed that over 99 percent of patients who developed coronary heart disease, heart failure, or stroke had at least one nonoptimal risk factor beforehand, while 93 percent had two or more. Hypertension emerged as the most common factor, present in over 95 percent of South Korean patients and 93 percent of U.S. patients.
Even among women under 60 — traditionally considered at lower risk — more than 95 percent had at least one nonoptimal risk factor before their event.
A secondary analysis using higher clinical thresholds — such as blood pressure above 140/90 mmHg, cholesterol above 240 mg/dL, glucose above 126 mg/dL, or active smoking — showed that at least 90 percent of patients still had one major risk factor before their first cardiac episode.
The findings underscore the critical importance of managing blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose levels, and tobacco use to prevent life-threatening cardiovascular events. (Source: IANS)
