Heart disease continues to stand as the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. Coronary heart disease, the most common type of heart disease in the U.S., was responsible for the deaths of nearly 372,000 Americans in 2022 alone, according to the American Heart Association.
All too often, the risk factors for heart disease – from high blood pressure to high cholesterol – aren’t addressed until after a life-threatening event has occurred, experts say.
Knowing the preventive measures you can take to lower your risk for heart disease can be life-saving.
What is heart disease?
Heart disease is a broad term that encompasses all the disorders that affect the heart’s function and structure, from coronary artery disease (CAD) to congenital heart disease (CHD) to arrhythmias, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Coronary artery disease (another term to describe coronary heart disease) is a leading precursor of heart attacks and heart failure. The condition arises when the arteries located in the heart begin to narrow, making it more difficult for oxygen-rich blood to reach the heart muscle. It occurs due to a build up of plaque within the lining of these arteries (also known as atherosclerosis), says Dr. Eugene Yang, a professor of medicine and Carl and Renée Behnke Endowed Chair for Asian Health at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
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What causes heart disease?
You can’t control your family history, sex, age and menopausal status. But in the world of prevention, there are a number of modifiable lifestyle and health factors where you make adjustments to reduce your risk for heart disease, says Dr. Karol Watson, the co-director of the UCLA Program in Preventive Cardiology and director of the UCLA Women’s Cardiovascular Health Center. A few long-established modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease include high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking.
In many past studies, the parameters that researchers used to define whether someone had a risk factor for heart disease was a clinical diagnosis, but it’s likely not that simple. Rather, risk factors operate on a more linear scale, says Dr. Philip Greenland, a professor of cardiology at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine.
New research reveals that the modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease, even “at relatively low levels, can still convey risk,” says Greenland. According to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 99% of the people who experienced a heart attack, stroke or heart failure had been exposed to at least one of the four risk factors – blood cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose or smoking — above an acceptable level. Greenland, who is one of the senior authors of the study, says it was important for researchers to evaluate multiple measurements, “because risk factors tend to fluctuate a little bit.”
The study in JACC didn’t depend on clinical diagnoses to determine one’s risk for high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure. Instead, researchers repeatedly measured populations in both Korea and the U.S. to determine whether someone had a modest risk elevation for those factors. The results solidified the importance of recognizing these risk factors, even if they present at a relatively modest level, Greenland says.
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Is heart disease preventable?
Health experts often estimate heart disease is at least 80% preventable, Watson says.
People aren’t always aware of their risk for heart disease, especially if they haven’t “had their blood pressure checked in a while, or they don’t know their cholesterol,” says Watson. But, if it’s detected that someone has an elevated cholesterol level, “then we are much more aggressive about treating their cholesterol, their blood pressure, their weight, diabetes, etc., in order to try to prevent them from having a heart attack down the road,” says Yang.
The American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 is a framework that details eight facets of cardiovascular health to consider: following a healthy dietary pattern, incorporating regular physician activity, quitting smoking, practicing good sleep hygiene, weight management and keeping an eye on your blood cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure levels. Improving these lifestyle and health factors can vastly reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke and other life-threatening cardiovascular conditions, per the AHA.
Again, while you can’t change your family history, age or sex, the experts urge people to take action to improve the modifiable risk factors that can impact your cardiovascular health. From a prevention stance, “we need to focus more on (adhering to) those Life’s Essential 8 behaviors, because that’s really what will prevent heart disease,” Yang says.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is heart disease? Causes and prevention
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