What are the 4 major cardiovascular risk factors?

For this study, researchers analysed medical data from more than 9 million adults in South Korea and almost 7,000 adults in the United States.

Study participants were followed for up to 20 years, allowing scientists to see multiple measurements for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and smoking exposure before a participant had their first cardiovascular issue.

“Some recent studies have suggested that the major modifiable risk factors are ‘often’ absent in people who experienced heart attacks and similar cardiac or vascular diseases,” Philip Greenland, MD, FAHA, FACC, FESC, the Harry W. Dingman Professor of Cardiology and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and senior author of this study, told Medical News Today.

“We doubted that and suspected that that research was missing previous risk factor exposures that could only be studied in long-term data sources,” Greenland added.

For this study, researchers focused on what they considered the four major” risk factors for heart disease, and and used the American Heart Association’sTrusted Source ideal cardiovascular health definitions, which describe not ideal levels as:

1. blood pressure of 120/80 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) or over, or on treatment
2. fasting glucose of 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or over, diagnosis of diabetes, or on treatment
3. past or current tobacco use
4. total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL or over, or on treatment.

“These are the ‘major’ risk factors, and they are modifiable, at least potentially,” Greenland said. “Some of the other factors that are suggested to be ‘risk factors’ for cardiovascular disease — like genetics or certain blood markers like C-reactive protein — are not modifiable. So, if the modifiable factors are actually present in almost all cases, then there is an opportunity for prevention.”

High blood pressureis the  most common risk factor for heart attack, stroke

At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that more than 99% of study participants had at least one risk factor at unhealthy levels before experiencing heart failure, stroke, or heart attack.

Of these four major risk factors, scientists discovered high blood pressure to be the biggest offender, affecting more than 95% of South Korean participants and over 93% of U.S. participants.

“This is important because high blood pressure is fairly easily detectable, but it is asymptomatic, so often overlooked,” Greenfield said. “Our findings show how important it is to recognise it and treat it.”

Researchers also reported that even in women under 60 years of age, who are considered to usually be at the lowest risk for cardiovascular disease, more than 95% of study participants still had at least one non-optimal risk factor before experiencing a stroke or heart failure.

“In brief, as we have known for many years, there are a small number of modifiable risk factors for heart disease, and at least one, but often more than one, are present in the background leading up to heart attacks, heart failure, or strokes. Patients [should] be sure that these four factors are assessed at every medical visit, and if there is even a slight elevation as per our paper, efforts need to be made to treat that factor to prevent heart attack, stroke, or heart failure.”

– Philip Greenland, MD, FAHA, FACC, FESC