99% of Heart Attacks and Strokes Are Preventable – Study Reveals Nigeria’s Hidden Health Crisis

It is both shocking and revealing that over ninety-nine percent of all cases of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure are linked to just four preventable risk factors – high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and tobacco use. A recent global study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology has exposed what could easily be called the most preventable public health crisis of our time.

At the root of this finding is a hard truth – cardiovascular diseases are not inevitable, yet they remain the leading cause of death across the world. Behind every heart attack or stroke is a chain of choices, both personal and systemic, that could have been changed long before tragedy struck.

A Silent Killer Hiding in Plain Sight

High blood pressure, identified as the most common culprit in the study, affects more than ninety-five percent of patients before any major cardiac event occurs. Its silent nature makes it even more dangerous. Many people walk around with dangerously high readings, unaware that their bodies are quietly heading for collapse. Whether in the United States or South Korea – two very different countries – hypertension was the common thread in almost every cardiovascular emergency.

In Nigeria, the situation is even more concerning. While hospital data show that acute coronary syndrome (heart attacks) accounts for just 0.2 to 1.6 percent of cardiovascular admissions, registry findings such as the RACE-Nigeria study reveal that about 59 cases per 100,000 hospitalized adults each year suffer heart attacks or related cardiac events. These numbers might seem small on paper, but they hide a much graver truth – countless cases go unrecorded because patients never reach the hospital in time. In rural areas, poor health literacy and lack of access to emergency care make heart attacks a silent epidemic.

Knowing Isn’t Enough

For years, doctors and public health experts have warned about the dangers of poor diets, lack of exercise, excess alcohol, and smoking. Yet the world continues to ignore the warnings. What makes this failure worse is that these risk factors can be changed. This is not about destiny or genes – it is about policy, behavior, and social structure.
In many developing nations, including Nigeria, access to affordable health checks is limited, while processed foods and sugary drinks are everywhere. Society seems to know the problem but refuses to act on the solution.

A Call for Real Prevention

This study should ignite a sense of urgency – not in treating heart disease after it happens, but in stopping it before it begins. Governments must make early screening and lifestyle education part of routine healthcare. Community clinics should have working blood pressure monitors, diabetes testing tools, and proper counseling services.

Insurance companies and policymakers must also rethink priorities. Paying billions to treat preventable conditions makes no economic sense. Prevention is not a luxury – it is the most cost-effective form of healthcare.

Everyone Has a Role to Play

Prevention starts with simple habits. Checking blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol should be as common as checking a text message. For smokers, the message could not be clearer – quitting saves lives, and it is never too late to start.

The Way Forward

The research leaves no room for debate – almost every case of heart attack or stroke could have been prevented through better habits and early intervention. In Nigeria, where heart disease is quietly climbing the ranks of top killers, the government and the people must treat prevention as a national duty. The future of global health depends on shifting focus from cure to prevention, from hospitals to communities, from emergency response to lifelong wellness.

Health is not only about living longer – it is about living smarter. If ninety-nine percent of heart attacks and strokes could be prevented, then ninety-nine percent of them should never happen at all.

Source: Newsport Nigeria

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