Nearly Everyone Has One or More CV Risk Factors Before a CVD Event

Almost all people (99%) who skilled a heart problems occasion had been uncovered to a number of nonoptimal conventional danger issue, difficult the assumption that heart problems typically strikes individuals with out warning, in accordance with a large study revealed Sept. 29 in JACC.

Hokyou Lee, MD, PhD, et al., analyzed well being data from two potential cohorts in Korea (Korean National Health Insurance Service [KNHIS]) and one from the U.S. (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis [MESA]). The KNHIS cohort included 9,341,100 people ≥20 years previous at baseline and adopted from 2009 to 2022. The MESA cohort included 6,803 people aged 45-84 years at baseline and adopted from 2000 to 2019.

The researchers checked out people who had a primary heart problems occasion throughout follow-up, outlined as coronary coronary heart illness (CHD), coronary heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke. Then they decided the prevalence of a number of conventional cardiovascular danger elements at nonoptimal ranges earlier than the occasion, together with: 1) systolic blood stress (BP) ≥120 mm Hg or diastolic BP ≥80 mm Hg or on therapy; 2) complete ldl cholesterol ≥200 mg/dL or on therapy; 3) fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL, analysis of diabetes or on therapy; or 4) previous or present tobacco use.

Results confirmed that 601,025 and 1,188 heart problems occasions occurred within the KNHIS and MESA cohorts, respectively. There was a excessive prevalence of danger elements in each the KNHIS and MESA cohorts, respectively: 99.7% and 99.6% earlier than CHD, 99.4% and 99.5% earlier than HF, and 99.3% and 99.5% earlier than stroke.

Findings additionally revealed that throughout age teams in each sexes, there was a persistently excessive prevalence (>99%) of danger elements. Women aged <60 years had the bottom proportion, with >95% danger elements noticed for HF and stroke. Prevalence of two or extra danger elements previous cardiovascular occasions was additionally excessive (93.2%-97.2%).

Notably, elevated BP was essentially the most prevalent nonoptimal danger issue (95.6%-96.1% in KNHIS; 93.0%-96.8% in MESA), whereas previous or present smoking was the least prevalent (47.9%-68.1% in KNHIS; 54.1%-63.3% in MESA).

In an accompanying editorial comment, Neha J. Pagidipati, MD, MPH, FACC, notes that people in each teams had a median of 4 visits earlier than a cardiovascular occasion, “indicating multiple opportunities for risk factor assessment.” The research “emphasizes that we can – and must – do better to recognize and treat risk before it manifests as cardiac events,” concludes Pagidipati.