A major international study has found that nearly all heart attacks and strokes are linked to just four key risk factors, reinforcing the importance of early prevention and routine health screening.
The study, published in 2025 and reported by ScienceAlert, analysed health data from more than nine million adults across South Korea and the United States over a long-term period.
Researchers found that about 99 per cent of people who suffered major cardiovascular events had at least one of four conditions before the incident — high blood pressure, high cholesterol, elevated blood sugar levels or tobacco use, either current or past.
According to the findings, heart attacks and strokes rarely occur without warning signs, as these risk factors were present long before the onset of disease in almost all cases studied.
Even among women under the age of 60 — identified as the group with the lowest overall cardiovascular risk — more than 95 per cent of heart attacks and strokes were associated with at least one of the four risk factors.
Health experts say the findings highlight the critical role of preventive care, lifestyle modification and early detection in reducing cardiovascular deaths globally.
They stress that controlling blood pressure, managing cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and avoiding smoking could significantly lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where access to advanced treatment remains limited.
Cardiovascular diseases remain one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and experts warn that failure to address these risk factors early could place additional pressure on already stretched health systems.
