A doctor and emergency room nurse care for a patient at Mission Community Hospital in Panorama City, Calif., on Jan. 28, 2009. David McNew/Getty Images
More than 99 percent of people who suffered coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure, or stroke for the first time had at least one risk factor for such events above the optimal levels, according to a peer-reviewed study published on Sept. 29Â in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Researchers analyzed data of more than 9.34 million individuals from South Korea and 6,803 from the United States. They looked for four signs or risk factors at nonoptimal levels before the first CHD, heart failure, or stroke events—blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, and tobacco smoking.
